Cold War Kids at Piano's
Cold War Kids have been in New York for a few days. I missed them at Two Gallants knowing that they would play three shows at Piano’s this week. Every blogger and their webmaster was out to see them. David Cross was there Monday too. There are lots of MP3s floating around if you are not familiar with this fast-rising California band. Tuesday’s show was more rowdy and they built momentum with their set list. The band was moving all over the stage taunting and slapping one another like you would your little brother. Sometimes the singer did not have a guitar, instead his hands would dance along to the thuds of the beat.
Their performance that night said to me, “We like to bang on shit.” A lot of the their rhythms breakdown to bass and tom, the kind of stuff you could play with one hand. They used maracas, tambourines, handclaps, and even an empty liquor bottle. On “Hospital Bed,” one of the guitarists put a symbol on a crate and bashed away at the climax of the song. It fell to the floor and he continued to bash the symbol into ground, disregarding time or measure. On “Hang Me Out To Dry,” the singer harnessed that same chaotic energy mashing chords together as he pounded them out on his vintage keyboard. Unfortunately, this piano was set up at the end of the stage facing the wall, ironically cast to the side in a bar called Piano’s. The unruliness is also present on their EPs but I did not notice it until Tuesday evening.
Cold War Kids short stint at Piano's illustrated why these guys are the next buzz band. They will be back in June to open for Tapes n’ Tapes. Some say Cold War Kids could just be another blip on the hype radar. "This will all be over in time," they sing. Doubtful, if they continue on the same trajectory.
COLD WAR KIDS MP3S
Hospital Beds (MP3)
Tell Me In The Morning (MP3)
More pics after the jump.
