Cold War Kids

Cold War Kids channel an eclectic array of touchstones—Tom Waits, Billie Holiday, Nick Cave, and U2—into sleek yet fervent rock arrangements. The band’s fluid roster mirrored its sonic progression across time, moving from the heavy-footed blues-punk of its 2006 opening statement Robbers & Cowards to the glossy alternative-rock sheen of 2011’s Mine Is Yours. Growing increasingly stadium-ready and commercially successful, the quartet reached new visibility with 2017’s L.A. Divine, a record that toasted both the lore of its chosen home city and the sweep of big-gesture rock; the album climbed inside the Top Ten of Billboard’s Top Rock Albums ranking. Entering the 2020s, Cold War Kids continued weighing bold stylistic experiments against durable melodic anchors, threading funk, disco, and dance-rock textures through the New Age Norms trilogy before reclaiming their gift for expansive choruses on the 2023 self-titled release.

Long before the group assembled, bassist Matt Maust coined the name Cold War Kids during a 1997 journey through Eastern Europe. He and the other founding members—vocalist/guitarist/pianist Nathan Willett, drummer Matt Aveiro, and guitarist Jonnie Russell—first crossed paths at Biola University, where they began shaping their soul-steeped, blues-tinged brand of indie rock under the Cold War Kids banner in 2004. The songs took shape inside Russell’s apartment above the Fullerton, California eatery Mulberry Street; the band later titled its 2005 debut EP for Monarchy Music after that restaurant. Bolstered by the follow-up EPs With Our Wallets Full and Up in Rags plus their fervent stage shows, Cold War Kids inked a deal with Downtown Records in 2006. That October the label issued the widely praised Robbers & Cowards, produced by Kevin Augunas; the brooding, artful blues-rock set rose to No. 173 on the Billboard 200, peaked at No. 35 in the U.K., and registered on charts in Australia, France, and the Netherlands. The track “Hang Me Up to Dry” earned gold certification stateside, and the group delivered the We Used to Vacation EP the same November.

Following two years of constant touring, Cold War Kids settled in Long Beach, California and reteamed with Augunas for the reflective Loyalty to Loyalty, released in September 2008. Partly sparked by philosopher Josiah Royce’s writings, the album’s refined textures and introspective lyrics propelled it to No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and into the Australian Top 20. Amid subsequent road work the band found time to cut the 2009 Behave Yourself EP, a collection foregrounding its soulful balladry; the set reached No. 177 on the Billboard 200 and yielded the Canadian Top 40 single “Audience.”

In early 2010 the group entered studios in Nashville and Hollywood alongside Grammy-winning producer Jacquire King (known for work with Tom Waits and Kings of Leon) to track its third album, Mine Is Yours, issued in January 2011. Brighter and more intimate than prior efforts, the record again hit No. 21 in the U.S. and climbed to No. 9 in Australia; its single “Louder Than Ever” reached No. 31 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart. Russell exited late in 2012; former Modest Mouse and Murder City Devils guitarist Dann Gallucci joined in time for April 2013’s Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, which he co-produced with Lars Stalfors. Cut at the band’s own facility, the album merged Cold War Kids’ raw roots with electronic flourishes nodding to Depeche Mode and New Order, landing at No. 51 in the U.S. and No. 48 in Australia while the single “Miracle Mile” entered Canada’s Top 40. The digital-only Tuxedos EP followed that September. Aveiro departed at year’s end and was succeeded by former Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer.

Although Maust and Willett pursued the side project French Style Furs—whose debut Is Exotic Bait surfaced in 2014—Cold War Kids resurfaced that October with Hold My Home. Recorded at the band’s personal studio and again helmed by Gallucci and Stalfors, the album introduced multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Matthew Schwartz as a core member; it charted at No. 56 in the U.S. and No. 61 in Australia. The track “First” became the band’s biggest hit, topping Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart in 2015 and eventually earning platinum status in the States plus gold certifications in Canada and Australia. After the April 2015 Five Quick Cuts EP, Gallucci exited in 2016 and was replaced by We Barbarians’ David Quon. That year Cold War Kids contributed the anti-Donald Trump single “Locker Room Talk” to the “30 Days, 50 Songs” series.

The following year the band moved to Capitol for its sixth studio album, the Stalfors-produced L.A. Divine, released in April 2017. Drawing inspiration from its adopted city of Los Angeles, the LP peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart; the Bishop Briggs collaboration “So Tied Up” appeared on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs tally. Cold War Kids followed with remix EPs and the live set Audience: Live September 24, 2017, Athens, GA. The 2018 compilation This Will All Blow Over in Time gathered the group’s Downtown Records-era material.

In 2019 Cold War Kids launched a trilogy of mini-albums with October’s New Age Norms, Vol. 1, which incorporated pop, funk, and disco hints alongside more topical lyricism. January brought Strings & Keys, an acoustic reworking of several tracks from the first volume. A more dance-oriented direction shaped August 2020’s New Age Norms, Vol. 2, before the trilogy concluded with September 2021’s New Age Norms, Vol. 3 and its funk-punk single “What You Say.” An early-2022 collaborative version of that song featured Zella Day. After a mid-2023 tour alongside Tears for Fears, Cold War Kids delivered their tenth album, the self-titled Cold War Kids, that November. Fronted by the Pretenders-inspired “Double Life” and the Canadian Top 20 single “Run Away with Me,” the record returned to the band’s soulful rock foundations while examining parenthood, sexism, and self-acceptance.