Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards

The debut album from Cold War Kids is as assured as it is lyrically vivid. Less Reagan-era missile crisis and more moralistic tales intertwined with Nathan Willett's vocals wavering between wobbly falsetto and bar room blues - stories of prisoners seeking redemption for the murder of his sister's would-be rapist and an alcoholic father looking back on the mess he's made. Not your usual tales of love and loss. It's here where they make their mark. It might be a tad obvious that these kids are singing from an evangelical viewpoint - they met at Christian College for god's sake - but when they are on form, whatever your viewpoint, you can't deny the focus with which these tunes were put together. 'Hang Me Up To Dry', with a driving piano rhythm and fuzzy guitar that comes over like Jeff Buckley playing some long lost Velvet Underground track, and the scuzzy 'Rubidoux', are standouts for a record that could be the start of something big. [Garry Thomson]