Sunday, February 21, 2010

Contenders Series #5: Cold War Kids - "Audience"

Download:  Cold War Kids - Audience


I am, for lack of a better word, enthusiastic about the music I listen to.  There are probably better adjectives to describe someone who feels like he has to write hundreds of words about every good song he hears, but some of them border on the clinical, so I'm sticking with the one that doesn't make me sound like a crazy person.  And, when you spend as much time as I do spreading the gospel of indie rock, you start to see that same fire in others every once in a while.  People who hear the opening chords of a song and get that far-away look in their eyes, people who can't even wait until you finish saying a band name before they launch into a story.

So, for what it's worth ... Krunal and JD LOVE Cold War Kids.  To the point that they were both almost proud to hear how much I love this song, like it re-affirmed their faith in both me and themselves at the same time.  We are missionaries, after all.  Go and make disciples of all men.

The music I listen to varies quite a bit depending on the situation.  The music I listen to on the train going to work is not the same music I listen to on the way home.  The music I listen to on a run is not the same music I listen to on a walk to the store.  Even so, I have yet to find myself in a situation where I did not want to hear "Audience."  It's got that "soundtrack for life" feel to it, a sound that makes everything you do seem a little more cinematic, if, by "cinematic" you mean "the scene in the movie where our hero walks down to Subway for a Five Dollar Footlong and then gets back to reviewing documents."  Not sure I'd watch that one.

One last thing:  This song comes from the EP Behave Yourself, which was released on iTunes December 21, 2009, but in physical form January 19, 2010.  So yes, I understand that, to some degree, it's cheating for me to put this on my 2010 Contenders list.  And I don't care.  And there are a few other songs that will sneak onto the list on similar technicalities.  So it goes.

Official Site
Hype Machine

2 comments:

  1. do you know what this song is about? 'cause im pretty sure it's about Nathan's deep reverence to jesus christ - his very own, 'audience of one'.

    the reason being, of couse, is that the band is very VERY christian and, if im not mistaken, several of the guys met while at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (I only know this because my best friend's band used to open for CWK during a residency at DiPiazza's in Long Beach many moons before their meteoric - and if you ask me, undeserving - rise to fame in 2006.)

    anyways, nothing against christian rock, christians, or christianity in general, but i tend to stay from songs with overtly religious overtones (even ones with catchy piano riffs), and thought i'd share my piece.

    nice blog by the way.

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  2. Of the contenders, this is my favorite so far. It moves, it's slow and plodding, it's powerful, but not overpowering... Good stuff.

    Shocked you haven't posted anything from Contra. Which, I would argue, was only OK.

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