The beat of a song can easily instigate a certain amount of dancing within a crowd. But this should always go hand-in-hand with the stage presence of a band, it should never be the driving force of a show. When Cold War Kids recently came through the area in support of their latest album "Mine Is Yours" it felt a little as though the band had a touch too much confidence in their sound alone.

Don't get me wrong, their sound is like none other. It was chock full of attitude, blues-fused bass strumming and a melodic chorus here and there. However, it seemed like we may have caught the band mid-tour and in need of some Red Bull.
But even with the lack of energy, the set list was full of great songs. Opening number "Royal Blue", off the new album, was a good way to start off the evening. With an intro of a light electric guitar swaying through, the song would eventually give away to very jam band groove. "Mexican Dogs" is a great classic rock selection off their album Loyalty To Loyalty. The lead vocals almost trend on the side of an emotion-driven political speech, rather than tone-perfect singing. But this just fits perfectly with a lead guitar so laced with attitude you'd think it was born in the 80s with a cigarette sticking out its mouth.

The "hit" for CWK founds its spot smack dab in the middle of the evening. "Hang Me Up To Dry" came out on stage similar to how "The Distance" played live for Cake - slightly different than the rest. If this was the first song one ever heard by the band (and that's a safe assumption), you'd think the deep bass twangs and light airy percussion were what Cold War sounded like. The lights on stage went red to further the sultry and ever-so-sexy appeal emitting from that song. A few more selections down and we came to another new song called"Bulldozer". This was a selection that fueled the set's not-so-crazy side. With a very simple bass note progression and the hint of a guitar ween, a bulk of the song is fairly simplistic and border-line lullaby. Every once in a while the tempo definitely does pick up and you're reminded they have a drummer. On stage the song translated kinda U2-ish and very anthemic at times.

For an encore they threw in a few more from (what I would consider) their most popular album, Cold War Kids. The final selection, however, was a favorite from that album, "Saint John". Minus "Hang Me Up To Dry" this song easily has the most recognizable opening on the album. It's as though they felt the cymbals weren't getting enough love the rest of the show and decided to make it up on this selection. The tempo was sporadic and hard to pin down, but that's the beauty of this song. This sound would be comfortable in a seedy bar with an angry waitress and a few drunken patrons to sing along. The best element to the 3 min and 48 seconds? Well, the piano, of course. It pretty much only gets banged on with no better melody than chopsticks, but it's still an important part.

Regardless of the apparent need for the band to have caught a few extra z's, the show was still a good live representation of Cold War Kids great music.

-Rachel Fredrickson

Cold War Kids
March 9th, 2011
Granada Theater, Lawrence, KS

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