Credit: Found On Internet

The Luminaire, Kilburn
Sunday 21st May

Being so hot that you are flown in on invitation for your first UK tour is a good thing.
Being so hot that the music industry’s insiders throng to see the show is a big deal. Being so hot that you set off the fire alarm three bars into your first song – well, that ain’t so cool.

No matter what California’s unsigned Cold War Kids tell you afterwards, it probably wasn’t their plan to woo The Luminaire’s expectant crowd of industry players and clued-up kids with a kick of bass and the opening line: “Fire emergency – please remain calm and evacuate the building.”

While the band’s manager despaired, “chaos is falling upon us,” and musos quipped about “the c-major alarm,” it says a lot about the band’s reputation that only a handful walked out during the delay.

Those that stuck out the hour’s wait for the alarm to be FINALLY turned off were rewarded with the kind of set that makes all those wasted nights searching for the “next big thing” at dingy, indie discos seem worth it.

Cold War Kids’ opened with “Hang Me Up To Dry,” - so ridiculously addictive you cannot remember a time when you weren’t humming it in your head. The teasing track relies on a detuned bass groove and Nathan Willet’s vocals, an unfathomable fusion of Jeff Buckley and Mike D.

There was hardly time to file the band under lo-fi alt rock before Willet sat down at the keyboard for the second surprise of the night, a straight-up blues song. It was a startling contrast but a compelling signal of the band’s knowing awareness of the full spectrum of America’s back catalogue.

Cold War Kids stole broken beats and modern blues from Beck and The White Stripes for “Saint John,” taken from their latest EP “Up In Rags.”

Judging by the crowd’s reaction – and the band’s own fist-pumping - “Hospital Beds” is an obvious choice for a single, should the band finally choose which of the fray on both sides of the Atlantic to throw their lot in with.