Cold War Kids/Photo: Cold War Kids
For two decades (as of this year) they have been a staple of the indie-rock ecosystem, quietly but reliably prolific in their delivery of powerfully poetic and evocative records. In celebration of twenty years in the business as well as the recent release of the eponymous EP “Cold War Kids” (2023), Nathan Willett (vocals/piano/guitar) and company have just kicked off their Twenty Years Tour and will be bringing their established brand of indie rock to the Salt Shed on February 23. Historically, Cold War Kids tell stories of anxious and melancholic dimensions through transportive, meticulous songwriting and mournful, yearning instrumentation. Their debut studio album, “Robbers and Cowards” (2006), released two years after the band first met in L.A., still lives in the headphones of anxious teenagers everywhere (though admittedly many of these teenagers are now grown, this writer being one of them).
In a familiar phenomenon, the songwriting and accompanying instrumentation of Willett, Matt Maust (bass), David Quon (guitar/vocals), Joe Plummer (drums) and Matthew Schwartz (keys/guitar) have developed thematically into something more mature conceptually as the rockers have aged—many of them having entered fatherhood and a subsequently more pedestrian lifestyle. Just prior to and through the pandemic years, the group released a trio of albums “New Age Norms” 1, 2 and 3 (2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively), which together brought a higher-energy cadence to their rock. Cold War Kids have left their somewhat dystopian, painful indie for a more danceable and driving rock ‘n’ roll (though at times still delightfully unsettling).
As listeners, we are proximate to this growth lyrically. From “Double Life” off of “Cold War Kids” we hear Willett elegantly connecting the dissonant realities of being a rockstar with being a family man: “Sing my songs, bang my head/Rush me home, back to bed/When you live a double life, it’s dangerous.”
It’s the balance of the above duality that makes their most recent release such a sublime achievement and lends to the continued longevity of the group. And it makes sense—it is their tenth studio release, and the record serves as the commencement of a twenty-year project. The album reflects on some of the more challenging histories of the group while also connecting that history to the current state of the band and its corresponding members. Basically, it makes the youth of Cold War Kids agree with today’s Cold War Kids through pensive reflections on growth, even though separately they are distinct versions of the same band. This is further reinforced by the fact that the songs are sung on the backdrop of what is profoundly an indie-rock dance record.
It makes it all the more fitting that, early in their Twenty Years Tour, they are playing the Salt Shed. Many in attendance will no doubt have memories of being a kid and staring in awe at the strangely shaped apparatus, thinking about just how much salt can actually be housed in such a structure as their parents drive them to a Bulls game. Well, on February 23, it’s the stage for the rockers that those kids-now-adults used to listen to in high school, and they are bringing a new brand of grown-up indie rock that is certain to sustain a powerful and emotional occasion.
Cold War Kids play the Salt Shed, 1357 North Elston, on Friday, February 23. Doors, 7pm. This show is sold out.
