It's been a while since we've heard from Cold War Kids round these parts. After being one of THE buzz bands a few years ago, on the back of a couple of EPs, they finally released their debut Robbers and Cowards to wildly opposing reviews. None more so than Pitchforkmedia.com who sternly accused the band of being 'evangelical', based on vague lyrical interpretations. Which is kinda rich, coming from the same source that froths annually over Sufjan Stevens. Nontheless, by the time the band made it to Australia in the middle of 2007 for a whirlwind tour, they were enjoying high rotation radio play, sold out shows and by all reports, were received wildly. 

Now on their way back to Australia for the Splendour in the Grass festival in August, we spoke to frontman Nathan Willett (above with guitar) about their upcoming Australian tour, being sincere and just finishing their new record.

You haven't posted any news on either coldwarkids.com or your MySpace since last year. What's been going on?

We usually like to do a good job of keeping up with everything but it's been however many years of touring now. When we got home last November we just decided 'You know what? Let's take this time to really kinda set new precedents and redefine ourselves with it'. I think we needed to get some serious rest and start over. We were touring that record (Robbers and Cowards) for over a year before it came out. And then we were touring for a year and a half after it came out. So yeah we dropped off for a while but...it's also cause we've been recording a new record.

How far into it are you?

We're done. We actually just mastered it this last week and it's all done.

Playing all those old songs for a few years, you'd learn pretty quickly what is fun to play and what isn't anymore. Does it mean that the new stuff is quite different?

Definitely. The new record is a lot different. We recorded it with the same guy, but with the last record we had a guy named Dave Sardy (Oasis, Jet, Rolling Stones) mix it. And it was much more of a 'slick' sound than what we wanted for this one. So the same guy who recorded the new one, Kevin McGuiness, mixed it as well. I think the first record had a much colder feel. More vocals up front and a kind've high sound. This one is much more warm and low end and the vocals are back in the mix. A much more drum and bass heavier record than the last one.

You re-recorded your first two EPs to make up Robbers and Cowards. When you re-record stuff it's hard not to lose some of that initial spark. Was it a good decision in hindsight to do that?

It's a hard question. I think that it's always hard to re-record songs. There's always something lost. It's always a battle about something being right the first time. There's no right way to do things. There's an extreme 'live' way to do it at one end, and the polar opposite of that is you can sit in a studio all day and edit things until they sound totally different. I think that the more we do these recordings the more we realise that the artists that we love do totally different things. I read on Tom Waits records that every single vocal take that he does, he uses the first take. And y'know the Radiohead-like artists will spend half their time in the studio editing drums. And it can be a perfectly methodical thing. Those are the kind of things that definitely come into your mind and affect the way that you want to do it. In terms of like 'What if we spent days on this song and just do the drums for this?'. But we are always going to lean towards much more of a live sound, and a live take. And if the first take is the one then y'know let's try and use it.

I was listening to Robbers and Cowards before in the car and one of my friends who hadn't maybe heard it as much said 'It sounds like the point of view of a world weary office worker.'

Office worker?

Meaning from the point of view of perhaps a life slipping away or something.

Yeah, yeah.

Is that where you came at it from originally? That idea lyrically?

Definitely, definitely! You know...it's a hard question. It's actually funny because we were spending the last couple of days editing the DVD accompaniment to the record for when it comes out. There's a lot of time on there of us being in the studio, but there's also a lot of exclamations and anecdotes of different songs. And I think it's a similar theme in that you find some characters and then some of the songs are a bit more autobiographical. Like there's a song called 'Welcome to the Occupation' in this film that we're making, where I was explaining it being about public school teachers. Which I was doing right before we started the band. Working in a public school and how it's such a crazy and difficult profession. So yeah I think we've definitely come out of that. We started this band in our mid 20's when we were facing careers to commit to. And we went in the totally opposite direction in a lot of ways. In terms of, we have a serious life and music is what we do, but at the same time it's so unlike any of that sort've 'profession'. And I guess it affords us to be able to you know, brag about other ones' a little bit.

When you first started getting a bit of buzz, on your website I noticed that you seemed to approach Cold War Kids from a more collaborative ethos. Not even so much as a band but as an ongoing art project, involving other friends who were doing other art projects and whatnot. Is that an ongoing concern?

Definitely. We wrote that (missive) very early on in our band and we try and stay true to that. Like with this DVD that we've got coming out, we involved our friend Vern who's a filmmaker. You know we do the artwork ourselves, we do the records ourselves, we don't have a label telling us that we have to write a single or anything like that. We have a very tight reign around what we do and it's a unique thing I think, on the level that we're at, to maintain.

Are you still able to maintain that ethic when you're on tour, in a little unit?

Well it means a lot of different things. It can mean just that...we're extremely fortunate that we get to tour with bands that we respect and have become close friends of ours. Everybody from Elvis Perkins, to Doctor Dog, to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, to Pink Mountaintops and Black Mountain...bands that come from very different places musically but all bands that, whether it's onstage or at a show or beyond, we got to be a part of their world.

Another thing you mention on your site around about the time that you toured here last, was that there were starting to be musicians that you idolised when you were younger than you see now as peers. It seems like you still come at that sort've thing from very much a 'fan' perspective.

Definitely. I think it's a big facet of our band. In our artwork and presentation of ourselves we definitely seek to make ourselves understood. I feel with the second record and with the film that goes along with it, it accomplishes a lot of thing's that we've wanted to do which is to have a lot of clarity in what we're about. We're not trying to be a deeply mysterious band that has a made up story and a made up scene. You know, so many bands right now, that come from so many different places...I don't know. Say like a Devendra Bernhardt kinda guy. Great musician and great songs. But his presentation is more I think, a play, or something. Whereas I think what we do is...we're really seeking sincerity. We're not trying to be actors or be y'know, creating some kind of false existence or something.

Do you think that's why you copped a bit of flak when Robbers and Cowards came out?

I definitely think so. I think a lot of the initial record reviews coming out were so great and then a lot of the later ones saying different things, like y'know that some of the lyrics are religious or whatever, or that this group are, or the band wears tight pants so we're this type of group or whatever. All of those things hold really, so little. I think luckily for people who were familiar with us, to know that those things are very silly. And also to know that there's a lot more to what we do.

It's disarming to reviewers and media when a band is sincere and there's not some whacky story to hang on to.

Right.

So do you feel that reaction was a set back or a positive?

I think good art of any kind, people are going to really love it or really hate it. And I think to a certain degree when people are polarised by what you do, you're striking a nerve. And I think that's an important thing. That was always a positive for us to know that certain people strongly liked us and certain people strongly disliked us and we'd much rather have that, than people wanting to passively hop on board another trend or something. I think about bands that have serious longevity, like an REM type of band that's been big for so many years and put out so many records. That you have to rely upon songs and on lyrics. That you have intention and art in the songs and the record and in how you present them. You try to give those things the greatest voice and work off of that. And I think that's what we're trying to do. And it's doing pretty well.