Cold War Kids Overcome Fatigue And Critics Supporting Robbers And Cowards

When Cold War Kids sort of sleepily rolled into Toronto's Mod Club, rubbing their hands trying to catch a bit of warmth in the unseasonably cold April weather, I thought, "Hey, why not ask the clearly sleep-deprived guys if they're enjoying their tour and all the exhaustion that goes with it?"

"This is the worst time to ask that," vocalist/pianist Nathan Willett groans with a half-hearted laugh, before quickly adding, "We've always enjoyed it [touring]. We've been taken on tour with bands that we really like."

Guitarist Jonnie Russell, a little more awake than Willett, throws in, "We just kept going — this far into it, it's very evident that it's paid off. But it's still exhausting."

According to Russell, touring has become "more organized" since their Robbers And Cowards debut dropped stateside last year. But it's just one part of the band's endless efforts to get their music out. While touring, the band members — especially bassist Matt Maust — never stray far from their computers so that they can update the tour and photo diaries on their website. It's something that Willett sees as a little more than just a way to keep in touch with fans.

"It's been the best thing ever for us [the internet]. It's a huge part of people's accessibility to us. Everybody has to work a little bit harder to find new ways to be original on the internet. We have a huge advantage having a graphic designer [Maust, who coined the band name and does the artwork]. We know how to promote ourselves visually, and that's an advantage that a lot of bands may not have."

"I think that seeing people appreciate stuff, it helps to keep you stimulated as an artist," adds Russell. "The relationship back and forth is important."

All the blogging and touring would be useless without the songs to back them up, though, and the band have more than a few. Some have even sparked a weird bit of debate. The album's collection of desolate characters, ranging from death row inmates to alcoholics, have led some critics to suggest that the band traffic in a heavy-handed assembly of parables. Judging by Willett's shift in tone, it's an idea that the frontman is a little tired of.

"It's been a thing that one person said and [it] sparked this big debate that in a lot of ways became not about us so much as about the principle of being allowed to talk about Christian imagery or religious imagery, those kinds of things, in music. There's things that are like, spiritual themes, which is pretty much as universal as you can get."

While Willett and Russell hand-roll a couple of cigarettes, the singer points to the band's love of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and Billie Holiday as their inspiration for the madcap assembly of characters that make up Robbers.

"They are always writing about tragic figures. It's just a very natural tendency, trying to point out certain things going on around them in their personal lives, in culture. And usually the things you want to point out are the unfortunate things that are going on, so there can be an awareness, some justice in those things."

Then, almost as an afterthought while tossing his first failed attempt at a cigarette, Willet adds with a grin: "Or not. Sometimes you just point it out for art's sake."