Please, no MOR - #15 Cold War Kids - Mine is Yours

Dear reader, I am happy to announce that yesterday's instalment in the Glasto' 60 Day Challenge was a complete and utter success. Not only did I get to write about one of my favourite bands (dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip - the link is at the side of this page), but both le sac, and Pip RT'd my piece on Twitter, meaning that presumably they both liked it, which is pleasing in itself, but it also meant that my little old blog went from 400 views in 13 days to over 750 as I write this. That, in my book, is a successful day.

It does of course pile pressure on me to keep up the good work, and I hoped that Cold War Kids were going to provide me with a belter of an album to aid me in that, but, alas, the world is never so kind.

I've heard good things about this band, from a lot of people, which means I must have chosen the wrong album, but as I said when the list went up (again, see the links - left), I was looking for albums which I think the bands will be playing from, and if an act has a new album out, it seems fair to presume that at least part of it will feature pretty heavily in their set.

This album though, the band's most recent, is quite poor. Well, no, it's very poor. It's a middle of the road, play it safe borefest.

My initial thought was, confusingly, that this sounds quite a lot like something Cher might come up with. Not only did the voice activate that part of my brain, but also the mundane tunes. There seem to be no risks taken here, it's just 'safe' throughout, and when I say safe, it only serves as a euphemism for dull.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a case of me missing anything on first listen either. On repeat attempts, it still offers little. I have it on right now, but I'm up to track four, and still nothing has actually made me stop and listen. It's just there, in the background, not doing a lot.

I'm not sure what type of music the band has played in the past, as it isn't in the spirit of the Challenge to go poking around in the back catalogues of the acts that I'm unfamiliar with. I'm not even sure how to describe this. It isn't rock music, and I suppose it could be seen as pop, but it's certainly not your more conventional pop music, it's just, well, meh.

It sounds like a lot of effort went into it, which makes me feel bad for having so few strong opinions on it, but despite my best attempts, I can't really offer anything else. There is actually little variation too between the songs. At least with other things that I haven't liked so far, there was a reason. Wild Beasts was just, well, odd, whereas this is just genuinely dull.

I suppose in a way, every song is some kind of ballad, but again, not in a conventional sense. I'd like to pick a highlight out for you, reader, but I just think you'd be better off not bothering with this one. I can remember seeing NME's review of the album, in which they gave it 4/10 and said it was boring, perhaps I should have listened to them, and saved myself the hassle of finding out for myself.

I wouldn't give it a lower mark, as that would suggest that it's got something specifically wrong with it, but it doesn't really, it just potters on by, keeping a close eye on its own ability to be dull. Infact, and I am truly sorry to say this, the most enjoyable bit of this album was when it finished. I wasn't happy about it, I wasn't sad, I was just, well, meh.

Onwards on upwards though, and a true classic is next on the list. And actually, I'm considering doing something a little different for tomorrow, make sure you pop by and see what's happening.