Cold War Kids

I wrote here but days ago that essentially, the only area of music that is currently exciting me is the world of electronica, be it techno, ambient house or unpredictable waves of noise, there's been more there for me to grasp than anywhere else in the musical sphere for a while now.

So of course, being presented with four average indie whiteboys in the overtly 'rock' hangout and beer cellar known affectionately as the Borderline, I'm less than excited. That is of course, until they start to play.

For every guitar music cliché that tonight's main attraction Cold War Kids subscribe to, there's a barrel of fresh inspiration and melodious joy to back it up. This isn't groundbreaking, it doesn't need to be. The ground that longs to be broken is irrelevant here, Cold War Kids choosing to hover above it, spraying those below with emotionally-charged vocals and a rhythmic heartbeat to rival even my deepest of electronic desires.

As tonight's all-to-short thirty minutes progresses, it's clear that our latest US import buzz band du jour have a little more to give than clapping your hands and saying "yeah!". Each song saying to the last, "ha! I'm better than you!" and requesting more of your absolute transfix-ion than before.

As we wind down and climax with the closer to the band's recent EP_ EP, _'Quiet, Please', the consistently surprising rhythm section takes over, jerking you from side to side, whilst the instrumentation does the same to your insides.

Cold War Kids aren't so much as my new favourite band as they are a revelation, restoring my faith in guitar music and bringing a smile to my equally average white boy face.

If this is a musical weather forecast for 2007, there's not a cloud in the sky.