Skip to main content

Cold War Kids iHeart Radio Album Release Party - My Quick Opinions



I've seen the Cold War Kids twice now, and my favorite thing about seeing them is they love to let people see them for free in Los Angeles. A free show is always the right idea. This time I got to see them at the iHeart Radio stage in Burbank, California. It's a very cool space, and the staff is super nice.

Part of this iHeart Radio streaming party was a line of questioning from iHeart Radio personality. It was cool to hear lead singer Nathan Willett talk about his love for Los Angeles and desire to use their new album, LA Divine, to set the record straight about the city's perception.

He told Billboard the album is "the best version of what [they've] always done," and I agree. There's nothing particularly outstanding about the new album. There's no new, adventurous sound. The freshest thing about LA Divine is the effect the tumultuous year that was 2016 had on the lyrics.
For example, Nathan told an amazing story about an art piece in New Mexico that contained a plaque celebrating those who "cross borders," calling them the bravest of us all. He said it truly stuck with him. It was a seemingly genuine pro-immigration quote. A song that didn't make it to the album held the line "LA is divine and music is worship," and so much of me wishes that song had made it. Or that we could at least hear it. One day...

Another favorite moment from the show is the story about how Bishop Briggs came to appear on "So Tied Up." Apparently, Nathan heard her hit "River" on the radio, pulled over to the side of the road and DM'd her on Twitter. He slipped into her DMs and out popped a rare Cold War Kids collab. There's a cool acoustic recording of their song here that's completely worth listening to.

To button things up, the band covered Rihanna's "Love on the Brain." It was impressive! It's cool that they acknowledge their hip hop and pop influences, and it was a interesting to hear their take on the goddess Rihanna's soulful song.

A bunch of pictures from the event that are way better than mine can be found here.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mrs. without the "r."

Of course I'm a feminist. Not that that needs explaining, but I absolutely believe in equal treatment and opportunities for both sexes.  But being a feminist doesn't mean I burn bras every Tuesday night. I still adhere to a number of not-so-feminist-friendly traditions. For example, I hate taking the trash out. That's a "man's" job. I take the trash out when I must, but if I can ask Jersey Mike to do it , well that's just 10 times better. Typically, for me, a man's job is any job I don't want to do.  Maybe that's not quite a tradition (more me leaning on societal norms to feed my laziness). But there's one tradition that, growing up, I always thought I'd be fine:  Taking my husband's last name.  My mother kept her maiden name when she married my father. She was born a Shute and felt that shouldn't have to change just because she found a cool guy to spend her life with. Growing up it wasn't confusing for me u...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nothing Will Replace Gossip Girl, But Riverdale Is Close or Teen Shows I've Watched Lately

Each day I live and breathe, I'm inching closer to a time when I will no longer understand and will therefore lose the capacity to truly love a teen drama. But I'm not there yet, and I'm (still) searching for something to fill the void Gossip Girl  left when it was revealed that Lonely Boy was the one putting the words in Kristin Bell's mouth. Gossip Girl first aired after an episode of America's Next Top Model.  I remember this because my mother and I used to watch ANTM together in the days before girls started auditioning just so they could meet Tyra. But neither of us could leave the room once Gossip Girl's  pilot began. We were both hooked immediately, and it would be a show we enjoyed together even after I left home for another city hours away, and then another state halfway across the country. GG was corny at times, and it had its pitfalls (how did Chuck Bass start Season 1 by trying to rape little Jenny and end it by kicking off what would become ...
Post a Comment
Read more