cold war kids

There is nothing happy or joyous about Loyalty to Loyalty, the latest release from Cold War Kids. Lead singer Nathan Willett struggles to whine over lo-fi, rudimentary guitars and drums, sounding like a one-trick band too drunk to play an empty bar.

As if waiting for an audience to arrive, it takes a few songs for Loyalty to come together. The opening track, "Against Privacy," is filled with simple guitar riffs drenched in distant, exaggerated echo effects and trite chord changes. It's like a disorganized sound check.

By the time we get to "Every Valley Is Not a Lake," the music starts to coalesce behind the raw, jarring vocals. Yet by the following track-"Something Is Not Right With Me," the album's first single-it's back to the same echoing guitar, crappy bass tone and cheesy synthesized piano-the standard setup of a struggling bar band.

Finally, Loyalty's muddy guitars and stumbling drums fit with their subject matter in the haunting "Golden Gate Jumpers." Although it is a sign of some artistic thought, I'm still not buying it. Willett's elongated notes only become more distorted and annoying.

Eventually, the Kids find their groove. The U2-inspired chorus of "Dreams Old Men Dream" and the drum-and-bass groove on "Relief" show some promise, but it's a day late and a dollar short. On the whole, this album is as drunk, tired and depressing as playing to the bartender.