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Reagan babies, missile fears, and
international blues. Cold War Kids began in the fall of '04 with jangly
guitar, handclaps, and a Harmony amp in a storage room atop a restaurant in
Fullerton, CA. For the first sessions between four friends, having
instruments was not as important as heavy stomping, chanting and laughter.
Clanging on heat pipes, thumping on plywood walls. Hollering into tape
recorders. Slipping and swaying into alleyways and juke joints. Dreaming the
American dust bowl and British maritime. On the roof the sound and feeling
was cultivated and burned, built and hallowed out, painted and stripped to
the primer.
Using songs of Dylan, Billie Holiday, and the Velvet Underground as a road map, they listen to their tiny inner voice to manipulate and structure their style with honesty. In 2005/2006 Cold War Kids self-released 3 six song EP's ("Mulberry Street", "Up in Rags", and "With our Wallets Full"). Touring relentlessly, sometimes with compadres "Tapes in Tapes" & "Two Gallants". It was these sweltering live shows and limited edition CDs that created the rapid word-of-mouth, giving birth to a burgeoning fan base, sold-out shows in cities across the country, glowing reviews in magazines like Rolling Stone & Blender. The band chose Downtown Records, the young Manhattan-based home to such talents as Gnarls Barkley and Eagles of Death Metal. A deal signed, the band regrouped to the studio and recorded their impressive and striking debut "Robbers & Cowards" in a matter of weeks. The result captures all of the raw power, smoldering energy and loose-limbed blues that make their live shows so invigorating.
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