Review: Ben Connolly
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The Kings of Leon really do have a lot to answer for, don’t they? There’s the re-introduction of initially swampy Dixie-styled rock, and the tight jeans, the lank hair and the homely Southern drawl, to name just a few. Perhaps more worryingly was the eagerness with which they helped to re-introduce some seriously lol-worthy Spinal Tap moments back into the world of rawk (just follow one of the brothers Followill’s twitter-feed to get an idea on how little grasp they have on reality), and by how much their adoring young fan-base seemed to lap it up. There was also the the warp-speed with which they jumped from being a curious, intriguing pseudo-experimental rock band into a firmly entrenched MOR behemoth of blandness and pyrotechnics. |
The result of this, and the greatest crime of all it must be seen, must be the fact they’ve shown this warp-speed blandification as a legitimate career-path with similar like-minded wanna-be acts.
The latest of these is California’s Cold War Kids, whose third album Mine Is Yours has just landed and has signalled quite clearly that the quartet has its eyes firmly on being the next revelation of arena-style rock. From start to finish the album is big and boxy and packs a serious bottom-end punch, which highlights a clear delineation between it and its predecessors (2006’s debut Robbers & Cowards and 2008 follow up Loyalty to Loyalty). It’s no suprise that KoL’s knob twirler Jacquire King had a big hand in this production. For all the bombast and pomp, however, there’s something not quite fitting in the equation and by album’s end, it’s all a little limp and contrived.
Continue reading Cold War Kids “Mine Is Yours” – Album Review
