It’s a bold statement, but we haven’t heard an album quite like New Age Norms, Vol.1 in 2019 – it’s not like it’s been a quiet year, it’s just I didn’t think we’d hear something that sounds like One Republic in this day and age.
Cold War Kids are fans of a cliché. The middle, filler-y track ‘Waiting For Your Love’ unashamedly trickles on about being lost before finding someone, whilst the track next to it understandably asks for a bucket to be sick in. Neither sound bad by any means – it’s unoffensive audio – but howay lads, break a sweat
The kids have tried their best to weave in a little bit of brit-pop magic, and there’s been an obvious attempt at some real chart music throughout, but please boys… can we have something more? ‘Fine Fine Fine’ (presumably written while Nathan Willet was feeling fine) for example, is more of the twangy sound we’ve heard before, but it’s just, well, fine.
Thirteen years and seven albums in we thought you’d have this down by now. We aren’t angry, we’re just disappointed. New Age Norms 1 was so close to being exciting. So close. And then… it just wasn’t. The Kids have promised a trilogy of pocket-sized records. And, at eight tracks altogether, this first instalment is definitely short’n’sweet. But, it is simply okay.
Haiku Review
“The Cold War was meh,
So take down the wall, have fun.”
-David Hasselhoff
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