Cold War Kids Rock Third Man Records

Cold War Kids showed off their gritty storytelling at an intimate set at Jack White’s Third Man Records last night. Following a brief introduction from White, the band tore into new song “Royal Blue” and went non-stop from there–until it was time to change the tape. (The show was recorded for a special-edition Third Man vinyl.) Tracks from upcoming LP Mine Is Yours were strongly featured, such as “Louder Than Ever” and “Cold Toes on the Cold Floor.” Older material, including “Hospital Beds” and “I’ve Seen Enough,” stayed fresh. Frontman Nathan Willett’s soulful voice is a significant part of what makes Cold War Kids some of the finest raconteurs in rock, something particularly reaffirmed on “Audience,” from this year’s earlier EP release Behave Yourself.

The California quartet may hail from Long Beach, but their sound has always had a Southern edge to it. The tape stopped rolling after “Goodnight Tennessee,” a song inspired by the Mine Is Yours sessions in Nashville, but the band played a brief encore and ended the night with “Hang Me Up To Dry” from their 2006 debut LP Robbers & Cowards.

For those who weren’t able to make it to the show, it was being filmed for an Interscope release and will presumably be made available sometime soon..

Mine Is Yours is out January 25 on Downtown Records.