Hold My Home

Hold My Home
Studio album by Cold War Kids
Released October 21, 2014 (2014-10-21)
Recorded 2013-2014
Genre Indie rock
Length 39:32
Label Downtown Records
Producer Lars Stalfors and Dann Gallucci
Cold War Kids chronology
Tuxedos
(2013)		 Hold My Home
(2014)
Singles from Hold My Home
  1. "All This Could Be Yours"
    Released: July 15, 2014
  2. "First"
    Released: February 17, 2015[1]

Hold My Home is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Cold War Kids. It was released on October 21, 2014 under Downtown Records.

Following the mild reception of their fourth album Dear Miss Lonelyhearts and the departure of original drummer Matt Aveiro, the band enlisted former Modest Mouse percussionist Joe Plummer and started work on their next album. Hold My Home has spawned two singles: "All This Could Be Yours" and "First". The album was released to mixed reviews from music critics who argued over its production and songwriting. To promote the album, the band toured across North America.

Background

After finishing their tour for their fourth album Dear Miss Lonelyhearts and digital-only EP Tuxedos,[2] the band announced that a fifth album was in the works.[3] On November 10, 2013, the Orange County Register reported that drummer Matt Aveiro had left the band, and that Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer would be holding his place indefinitely. It is unclear whether or not Aveiro's leave is permanent or temporary.[4]

Promotion

On October 21, the band announced a 2015 tour across North America to support the album, beginning with Denver's Ogden Theatre and finishing at Boston's House of Blues.[5] On November 20, they performed "All This Could Be Yours" on the talk show Conan.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic55/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Clash7/10[9]
Consequence of SoundD+[10]
Drowned in Sound7/10[11]
Exclaim!8/10[12]
Paste7.9/10[13]
PopMatters[14]
Under the Radar[15]

Hold My Home received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who argued over its production and songwriting. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 55, based on 7 reviews.[7]

AllMusic's Heather Phares praised the production throughout the album, calling it the band's best work since Robbers & Cowards concluding that, "with 'Hold My Home', they emerge as a more straightforward band, and also a more confident and engaging one."[8] Philip Cosores of Paste credited new members Gallucci and Plummer for raising the album's taste level over the previous two records and giving the band a whole new identity.[13] Mackenzie Herd of Exclaim! also praised the new additions for their contributions to the various songs throughout the album, concluding that the band "have reinvigorated their sound with a new lineup, elbow grease and a knack for telling interesting stories in a unique voice."[12]

Mat Smith of Clash praised the album for bringing back the dynamics and techniques heard in Robbers & Cowards only more disciplined, concluding that, "This far into their career, Cold War Kids should be thinking about a greatest hits - 'Hold My Home' is more or less that, given the staple reference points of the band that it covers, and yet it's all new and all the more vibrant for it."[9] Haydon Spenceley of Drowned in Sound called the album "a mature, fully-realised piece of work," praising Willett's versatile vocals and the songs for expounding creativity through its instrumentals, saying that "In short, Cold War Kids are several bands at once. They have creativity in spades, yet somehow each fine-tuning, each iteration of their arsenal still sounds like 'them'."[11]

Christian Koons of Under the Radar was mixed about the different styles used throughout the album concluding with, "The band's stylistic exploration is brave and admirable, but Home suffers most from a lack of consistency."[15] Colin Fitzgerald of PopMatters was critical of the album's production and songwriting, finding the band trying too hard to emulate previous influences concluding that, "on 'Hold My Home', their attempt is a failure, featuring no virtuosity, no experimentation, no honesty, no power of any kind, just stodgy, empty confidence in place of anything worth saying."[14] Colin Brennan of Consequence of Sound was also critical about the album, looking past the references and glimpses of merit in the songs to find the material by-the-numbers and lacking soul.[10]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Cold War Kids. 

No. Title Length
1. "All This Could Be Yours"   3:08
2. "First"   3:20
3. "Hot Coals"   3:28
4. "Drive Desperate"   4:10
5. "Hotel Anywhere"   3:11
6. "Go Quietly"   3:51
7. "Nights & Weekends"   2:55
8. "Hold My Home"   2:50
9. "Flower Drum Song"   3:37
10. "Harold Bloom"   4:13
11. "Hear My Baby Call"   4:49

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 61
US Billboard 200[17] 56
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[18] 8
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[19] 8
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[20] 14

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Australia[21] October 17, 2014 Digital download, CD, Vinyl Downtown
United States[22] October 21, 2014
France[23] October 27, 2014
Germany[24] March 6, 2015 Sony Music

References

  1. ↑ "R&R :: Going For Adds :: Alternative". Radio & Records. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ Coplan, Chris (August 15, 2013). "Cold War Kids announce Tuxedos EP, stream unreleased "Pine St."". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  3. ↑ Jackson, Nate (November 7, 2013). "Cold War Kids Prep for a New Record, Realize That Growing Up Means Lightening Up". OC Weekly. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ Cosores, Philip (November 10, 2013). "Cold War Kids wrap tour in revamped form". Orange County Register. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  5. ↑ Kuchick, Natalie (October 27, 2014). "Cold War Kids announce tour dates for 2015". AXS. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ Kaye, Ben (November 21, 2014). "Cold War Kids perform "All This Could Be Yours" on Conan". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Critic Reviews for Hold My Home". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Hold My Home - Cold War Kids". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  9. 1 2 Smith, Mat (September 3, 2015). "Cold War Kids - Hold My Home". Clash. Music Republic. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Brennan, Colin (October 20, 2014). "Cold War Kids – Hold My Home". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  11. 1 2 Spenceley, Haydon (March 9, 2015). "Album Review: Cold War Kids - Hold My Home". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  12. 1 2 Herd, Mackenzie (October 21, 2014). "Cold War Kids Hold My Home". Exclaim!. Ian Danzig. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  13. 1 2 Cosores, Philip (October 21, 2014). "Cold War Kids: Hold My Home Review". Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  14. 1 2 Fitzgerald, Colin (November 5, 2014). "Cold War Kids: Hold My Home". PopMatters. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  15. 1 2 Koons, Christian (November 13, 2014). "Cold War Kids: Hold My Home (Downtown) Review". Under the Radar. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Cold War Kids – Hold My Home". Hung Medien.
  17. ↑ "Cold War Kids – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Cold War Kids. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Cold War Kids – Chart history" Billboard Top Alternative Albums for Cold War Kids. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Cold War Kids – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for Cold War Kids. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Cold War Kids – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Cold War Kids. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  21. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Hold My Home by Cold War Kids". iTunes (AU). Apple. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  22. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Hold My Home by Cold War Kids". iTunes (US). Apple. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Hold My Home: Cold War Kids, Dann Gallucci: Amazon.fr: Musique". Amazon.fr. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Hold My Home: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved April 17, 2015.

External links

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