{"id":3024,"date":"2018-11-26T13:27:47","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T18:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=3024"},"modified":"2018-12-18T13:42:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T18:42:40","slug":"indie-underdog-develops-sound-with-la-divine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=3024","title":{"rendered":"Indie underdog develops sound with ‘LA Divine’"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Abbey Cadieux
\n<\/strong>North Pointe
\nGrosse Pointe North HS
\n1st Place
\nDivision 2, News Writing
\nReview<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a rare opportunity for fans to live through the mastery of a favorite band\u2019s sound. Listening to a favorite<\/p>\n

underdog band fully come into into their own sound is a beautiful thing for fans to witness. Fans of Cold War<\/p>\n

Kids are cherishing the last moments they have before the band explodes into full-on indie fame.<\/p>\n

Ditching the old uneasiness of past albums, indie rock band Cold War Kids is bursting out of a sluggish<\/p>\n

stretch of whiny, straggly tunes with their sixth clean and resounding album \u201cL.A. Divine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cL.A. Divine\u201d is a more palatable album and fans of other mainstream giants like Imagine Dragons, Bishop<\/p>\n

Briggs and Kongos will enjoy the streamlined sound Cold War Kids has perfected. Lead singer Nathan Willett<\/p>\n

maintains his distinct croon but ditches the wobbliness that made the band hard to listen to in the past.<\/p>\n

Cold War Kids has ironed out any wrinkles and imperfections in songs and put out a shiny, clean alternative<\/p>\n

album\u2014one worthy of countless commercials and TV show spots.<\/p>\n

New lead guitarist David Quon livens every track and is likely the force behind the band\u2019s evolved sound. On<\/p>\n

tracks like \u201cNo Reason to Run\u201d and \u201cCan We Hang On?,\u201d Quon\u2019s skills carry the songs past the typical Cold<\/p>\n

War Kids-esque vibe.<\/p>\n

Matching a new grittier, spooky sound that is gracing almost every alternative radio station, \u201cOpen Up the<\/p>\n

Heavens\u201d is an interesting switch-up offered on the album. While the group tends to stay pretty upbeat, the track<\/p>\n

shows an unexpected darker side.<\/p>\n

Tucked in the solid arrangement of songs are a few experimental tracks that show snippets of intimate trialand-<\/p>\n

error that is often left to be cut in the studio. \u201cL.A. River\u201d and \u201cCameras Always On\u201d give listeners a better<\/p>\n

look into the creative process and a real glimpse at the meaningful moments one has, especially dealing with<\/p>\n

the distorted sense of self that fame brings. Cold War Kids are owning up to their big status in the industry, and<\/p>\n

it shows through in these little moments offered on the album.<\/p>\n

Blending their typical existentialism with current events, \u201cL.A. Divine\u201d is slightly politicized,<\/p>\n

marking a bold move for the band. The maturation of sound and content is most evident on<\/p>\n

tracks \u201cWilshire Protest\u201d and \u201cInvincible,\u201d where Willett battles with internal struggles<\/p>\n

that every impassioned bystander in a chaotic political climate feels.<\/p>\n

While the album as a whole is impressive in quality and intensity for most<\/p>\n

tracks, fans may be let down at \u201cSo Tied Up\u201d featuring alternative favorite<\/p>\n

Bishop Briggs. Briggs adds little to the track, leaving fans who are used to<\/p>\n

her awesome vocal presence feeling cheated. The opportunity for greatness<\/p>\n

was lost on the track, as the blending of the two voices held immense<\/p>\n

potential.<\/p>\n

Breakout tracks \u201cLove is Mystical\u201d and \u201cRestless\u201d show that Willett<\/p>\n

can access the same emotional depth that he has for his entire career<\/p>\n

without the croaky nonsense that grated over earlier albums. With<\/p>\n

\u201cL.A. Divinel,\u201d Cold War Kids shows that they have the potential<\/p>\n

to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other alternative giants like The<\/p>\n

Black Keys and become an even more entrenched household name<\/p>\n

in indie music.<\/p>\n

\u201cL.A. Divine\u201d shows that the band has taken what they do best<\/p>\n

and built on it to create something that has the strength to last. Their<\/p>\n

swooping ballads and heavy-hitting songs are reinforced by years<\/p>\n

of experience that make almost every<\/p>\n

track golden. For longtime fans, \u201cL.A.<\/p>\n

Divine\u201d will come as a satisfying addition<\/p>\n

to a long stretch of monotonous tunes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Abbey Cadieux North Pointe Grosse Pointe North HS 1st Place Division 2, News Writing Review It\u2019s a rare opportunity for fans to live through the mastery of a favorite band\u2019s sound. Listening to a favorite underdog band fully come into into their own sound is a beautiful thing for fans to witness. Fans of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,56],"tags":[151,21],"class_list":["post-3024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-nw","category-review","tag-2017-18","tag-division2","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jaimie Bozack","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=7"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-MM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}