Cold War Kids - 'Mine Is Yours

Interscope; 2011

Our Take - 4.2


Cold War Kids are a band I  have really liked cheering for.  Their two previous releases Robbers and Cowards and Loyalty to Loyalty were largely hit and miss; containing catchy bangers like "Hang Me Up to Dry", off-kiltered emotional piano jaunts like "We Used to Vacation", desperate bluesy grooves like "Hospital Beds", and synth-based slow-burners like "Relief".  Their music was always a little abrasive, a little grating, and a hell of a lot of fun.  It took time, was preachy, a little over the top-- Nathan Willet's vocals non-traditional and even a bit annoying at times, but with these factors they found a sound that was distinctly their own.

With Mine is Yours, Cold War Kids erased what worked so well for them in the past.  The album is more accessible than any of the others, it will reach more ears, might make them famous, but what it makes up for in accessibility it lacks in originality.  I say good for them.  After this record, they'll be doing what millions have tried and failed at-- being full on arena-rockers.

Cold War Kids recruited Jacquire King to sit at the production table for the record.  King seemed to treat Mine is Yours in a much similar way as he treated the latest two Kings of Leon releases, smoothing them out, making them "break-through" ready.  And he did a good job in doing so.  Willet's vocals are almost unrecognizable as his own on the record.  They are mostly smooth, cutesy, croonish, and melodramatic, and lacking in his signature moves-- oddly stressed syllables and off-kilter desperation. To add to that, the once sporadic key signature changes and up and down tempos are almost altogether switched out for a static sort of evenness.

All of that being said, Mine is Yours, has its moments, but the moments that shine through are mostly reflective upon their old sound.  "Sensitive Kid" is a nice little minimalist groove, but borrows heavily from "contemporaries" (real loose quotes) Spoon.  "Cold Toes On The Cold Floor" could have fit well into one of their older albums-- it has some of the desperation and uneasiness that inhabited their past releases that were mostly smoothed over this time around. 

The album seems emotionally empty, over-wrought, over-polished, and less personal than their previous efforts--  it may garner more attention from your local radio station, but at the cost of what?  Personality? Originality? How about both.