Live Review: Cold War Kids, Cabins

Music has an inescapable effect over many people and their genitals. For those not accustomed, it can be dangerous. One sultry riff or dirty beat and all of a sudden you can feel uninhibited sexual prowess more powerful than any amount of E.L. James could ever provide. This reviewer has read odes to this feeling when listening to Cold War Kids, but never fully understood it until it was presented live at The Metro.

Cabins can be equally impregnating but there was just something off about the sound on the night. Off the bat Catcher In The Rye was sounding smooth, with Cabin's characteristic sexy bassline and drum beat. Lead singer Leroy Bressington roamed the stage with buckling legs like he was the play thing of a puppeteer, while the rest of the band coolly played. Later songs sounded fuzzier than usual however, with incomprehensible words and blurring instruments. Even their usually excellent cover of Edwyn Collins' A Girl Like You somehow fell short. While the boys were succeeding in presentation, they lacked in execution.

Cold War Kids on the other hand were flawless in their performance, with an energetic live show that complemented the depth and range of their tracks. Clearly still buzzing from Splendour In The Grass, the guys were commanding in their presence as they bounced off one another on stage. The focus stayed on their earlier albums for most of the set, with surprisingly few tracks from their most recent release, Dear Miss Lonelyhearts – not that anyone in the crowd was complaining. The audience was very clearly knowledgeable in their back catalogue and they were out to prove it, with the most enrapturing moments of the night coming from the highlights of Cold War Kids' debut album Robbers & Cowards. From the pounding beats of Something Is Not Right With Me, to the cuddle inducing piano of Tuxedo, the energy of the music was capturing, if not a little sexy.