Cold War Kids

Du Hot Club de Bizarre Brings Sci-Fi, Stretchy Pants, and More to Crescent Ballroom

Crescent Ballroom wasted no time becoming a downtown Phoenix staple putting on shows almost every day of the year, and serving delicious food and drinks in the lounge. The venue expanded its horizons last year with Los Dias de la Crescent, where local bands performed both inside and outside for two ... More >>

Video: Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, Mergence, and More at Carnaval Eléctrico

By now you know the scoop regarding Phoenix New Times' Carnaval Eléctrico at Crescent Ballroom: It rained -- a lot-- but performances by pop princes Diners, the soulful Stan Devereaux and the Funky Suns, hard rockers Mergence, garage kingpin Hanni El Khatib, indie combo Cold War Kids, and more, mad ... More >>

Top Five-Must See Shows in Phoenix This Week

Holy crap! What a weekend. We had the soggy-but-stellar Carnaval Eléctrico with Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, Mergence, and more at Crescent Ballroom, the raucous Rampage Fest with Nü Sensae, White Lung, Allah-Las, and more at Sail Inn, and a thoroughly enjoyable-but-exhausting performance by Ma ... More >>

Carnaval Eléctrico ft. Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, Mergence, and More, Crescent Ballroom, 3/8/13

Carnaval Eléctrico ft. Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, Mergence, Stan Devereaux & The Funky Suns, Diners, and More @ Crescent Ballroom|3/8/13It's awesome when everything goes right at a show: great lineup, great venue, and great concept. But, as the crowd at Friday night's sold-out Carnaval Eléctr ... More >>

Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend

We're just a little bit biased about the best way to spend your weekend here in Phoenix. New Times' Carnaval Electrico with Cold War Kids, Mergence, Hanni El Khatib, and more, is clearly awesome, but get this: There's other cool things going on around town. No joke. Rampage Fest at the Sail Inn is k ... More >>

Cold War Kids Headline New Times' Carnaval Electrico at Crescent Ballroom

Meet the New Times Carnaval Eléctrico Lineup: Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, Mergence, and More

Following up last year's New Times Soundcheck, a two-day festival at Club Red in Tempe -- which featured performances by The Love Me Nots, Sugar Thieves, 2 Tone Lizard Kings, Jason Devore, The Insects, Crusher Sound System, and more -- was a serious task. But challenges are cool, right? Up on the S ... More >>

Cold War Kids Turn Up the Experimentation With New Record

Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids says that when it came time to make the band's new record, the forthcoming Dear Miss Lonely Hearts (due April 2), they decided to play less to what the band "should be," and more to what it "could be." "I feel like we started to do that with the last album [2011's Min ... More >>

Hanni El Khatib and Black Keys' Dan Auerbach Spin Garage Gold

The most obvious difference in Hanni El Khatib's music these days is a sense of control. The former skate punk -- "playing the world's worst guitar" (but "Guitar Hero is helping out)," he jokes -- still dabbles in garage, psychedelia, punk, and blues, only now his songs are tighter, more realized. ... More >>

Phoenix R&B Stud Stan Devereaux Says Young Folks Are Getting Hip to Soul Sounds

Singer Stan Devereaux has been playing R&B and soul in Arizona since the 1960s, growing up in Tucson before exploring the Phoenix soul scene after college, then departing for Europe, South America, and Georgia. His journey led him back to Phoenix, and since he's settled into a groove here in town wi ... More >>

Sareena Dominguez Is Taking a Little "Me Time" Before Next Album

For someone not even old enough to drink, Sareena Dominguez sure has accomplished a lot: After signing to the River Jones Music label less than a year and half ago, she's played South by Southwest, released an album (her debut, Moonbeams), and starred in a music video of the same name, directed by L ... More >>

Mergence Adds "Surf-Samba" Track to Its Arsenal

It's no coincidence local rockers Mergence have been likened to California's Cold War Kids. Not only is the Phoenix band a quartet, but it also has a knack for crafting bluesy, soul-inspired opuses -- kinda like those other guys. So it seems only natural that they would get the nod to rep the Valley ... More >>

In The Valley Below: Irresistible Synth Pop for Even the Most Jaded Indie Fan

There comes a time in every music snob's life when they realize pre-judging a band based on the city where it resides and what musical genre it fits into is just as stupid as it sounds. In the case of L.A.-based duo In the Valley Below, a new musical project comprising singer/multi-instrumentalist ... More >>

Sareena Dominguez, Sir Sly, and DJ Seduce Added to New Times' Carnaval Eléctrico

New Times' Carnaval Eléctrico at Crescent Ballroom has locked in its lineup: DJ Seduce, Sir Sly, and singer/songwriter Sareena Dominguez will join national headliners Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, In the Valley Below, and locals Mergence, Wooden Indian, Diners, and Stan Devereaux & The Funky Suns ... More >>

New Times' Carnaval Eléctrico Expands With Wooden Indian, Diners, and Stan Devereaux & The Funky Suns

On Tuesday we announced the details of New Times' Carnaval Eléctrico at Crescent Ballroom, the festival which unites garage rocker Hanni El Khatib, psychedelic indie band Mergence, In the Valley Below, and headliners Cold War Kids on Friday, March 8, at Crescent Ballroom. We promised there'd be mo ... More >>

Cold War Kids to Headline New Times' Carnaval Eletrónico at Crescent Ballroom

Following up last year's New Times Soundcheck, a two-day festival at Club Red in Tempe -- which featured performances by The Love Me Nots, Sugar Thieves, 2 Tone Lizard Kings, Jason Devore, Skky Brown, The Insects, Crusher Sound System, and more -- was a serious task. See also: -The Love Me Nots, ... More >>

Flier of the Week: Roll Acosta

See also: Roll Acosta Teams With John Vanderslice For This Dreamt Existence We're diggin' the simple elegance of the rolling tape on this Roll Acosta flier...See what they did there? Like we're digging the simplicity of this flier, we're digging the band's new record, This Dreamt Existence (we des ... More >>

Roll Acosta Teams With John Vanderslice For This Dreamt Existence

Tucson indie poppers, Roll Acosta recruited John Vanderslice to produce its forthcoming debut full length album, This Dreamt Existence. Vanderslice's touch can be heard in the album's intricate instrumentation, which falls somewhere between fun.'s acrobatic melodies and Cold War Kids' strained funk, ... More >>

Top 10 Albums of 2011: Lenni Rosenblum

Hell no, this did not make my list.​I was fairly unimpressed by this year's new releases, which says a lot considering I'm not all that hard to impress, musically speaking. Although a lot of great albums came out, I don't think that 2011 was a very special year as far as new releases go, and frank ... More >>

Fall Harvest: 8 Freshly Released Local Songs

Ladylike​In Arizona, we don't really get seasons. Phoenix weather is a wide swing between Satan's sweltering nether-regions and a slight chill. The only real way to indicate the passing of the seasons is with local music, wherein Phoenix's best release a cornucopia (sorry) of music come autumn (or ... More >>

Foster the People Just Wants You to Dance

Cold War Kids at the Marquee Theatre, 9/6/11

Lenni Rosenblum​ Cold War KidsMarquee TheatreTuesday, September 6, 2011 Quality over quantity. That's what it's all about for Cold War Kids. Attendance at the band's show at the Marquee last night could have been better, but the 600 cheering fans that did show made up for everyone who didn ... More >>

Cold War Kids @ Marquee Theatre

Mergence Keeps It Weird with Communes, Nomads, and Robots

Sacha Levine, What Are You Listening To?

Sacha Levine​Sacha LevineThe sous chef of FnB says, "I don't just love food, I effing heart music as well." When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? It's kinda always set to NPR. Occasionally, there are really fantastic interviews with obscure ... More >>

Eminem, Arcade Fire, Widespread Panic, The Black Keys Headlining Bonnaroo

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival​ Eminem, Arcade Fire, Widespread Panic, and The Black Keys will be headlining the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival for its 10th year, according to the Bonnaroo website.The good people who run Bonnaroo have put together a bomb-ass lineup. Other artists confir ... More >>

Lollapalooza Chile Announces Solid Lineup

​The lineup for the first annual Lollapalooza in Chile has been announced, according to Consequence of Sound.The Killers, Jane's Addiction, and Kanye West are among some of the top names on the artist roster. Other big names include The Flaming Lips, Ben Harper, The National, Cold War Kids, Devand ... More >>

Duran Duran, The Strokes Tapped For Coachella; Official Lineup Coming Soon UPDATE

​Coachella's official lineup should be announced very, very soon -- lest anyone forget that this week is usually when the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival makes it big announcement.In lieu of the entire festival lineup, a few acts have already been confirmed for the festival's 2011 editi ... More >>

The 88: The 88

​Artist: The 88Title: The 88 Release date: September 28 Label: Rocket ScienceWhat do you do if you're a band like The 88? You're top-flight songwriters and musicians, you get your songs placed in all kinds of big-name TV shows and high-profile TV commercials, you tour the country opening ... More >>

Warpaint: The Fool

​Artist: Warpaint Title: The Fool Release date: October 25 Label: Rough Trade The musical path taken by L.A. foursome Warpaint is well trodden -- but this kind of ultra-moody, sort of experimental, Joy Division-indebted music is usually plied by men. But Warpaint is a quartet of women, and in ... More >>

Wayne Coyne Makes Commemorative ACL Screen Print With His Own Blood

​The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne made a poster using his own blood as ink, according to Consequence of Sound.Wayne poured four vials of blood that he had drawn in early September into a cup, spilled his hemoglobin onto a screen print, and went to town on an Austin City Limits poster. A warni ... More >>

Authority Zero: Stories of Survival

​Artist: Authority ZeroTitle: Stories of SurvivalRelease date: June 22Label: Suburban NoizeI have a friend who's a native Phoenician and longtime fixture in the Valley punk scene, both as fan and musician. He loves West Coast punk, thinks Southern California spawned the best of the best punk, espe ... More >>

13 Must-Hear Songs from the First Half of 2010

Dum Dum Girls​Today marks the halfway point of Nothing Not New. That means I've listen to nearly 140 records in their entirety in the first six months of 2010. Just another 140 or so to go before I can retreat to the familiarity of my record collection.To recognize the occasion, the Up on the Sun ... More >>

Foals: Total Life Forever

​Artist: FoalsTitle: Total Life ForeverRelease date: June 22Label: Sub PopThough I disagree with a commenter on one of my posts this week (Shawn from excellent local music blog Electric Mustache) about the merits of electro-punk Sleigh Bells, I agree with him that S.B. are a band that you either l ... More >>

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Mojo

​Artist: Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersTitle: MojoRelease date: June 15Label: RepriseHow many of you have acts that you'd never call yourself a fan of, would never buy one of their records, or pay money to see in concert, yet recognize that the acts have been around for so long and written songs ... More >>

Odds 'n' Sods: Delta Spirit, Stereo Total, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Cringe, The Dig, and more

​Let's clear off the desk, shall we?Stereo Total: Baby Ouh! -- This band on the Kill Rock Stars label is a multi-lingual new-New Wave boy-girl band with songs sung in English, German, and French. It's quirky with a capital "Q" and not nearly as charming as it thinks it is. Still, most songs are un ... More >>

Odds 'n' Sods: CocoRosie, Natalie Merchant, Disco Biscuits, The Sadies, Small Black, and more

​It's been a pretty big past two weeks for indie rock: Hold Steady, New Pornographers, Flying Lotus, The National, The Dead Weather. That's a lot of heavy-hitters. Meanwhile, some lower-profile stuff has been piling up on my desk, so it's time to give you a rundown of the other stuff I've been lis ... More >>

Male Bonding: Nothing Hurts

​Artist: Male BondingTitle: Nothing HurtsRelease date: May 11Label: Sub PopRemember all the buzz about Wavves last year? I thought they were just okay. Hopefully, their next record (slated for release this year) will be better. In the meantime, I'll be listening to the new record by Male Bonding, ... More >>

Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma

​Artist: Flying LotusTitle: CosmogrammaRelease date: May 3Label: Warp RecordsA while back, a reader posted a comment on one of my Nothing Not New posts asking why I continued to listen to electronic/laptop music even though I don't care for it all that much.Well, first of all, in the spirit of the ... More >>

She & Him: Volume 2

​Artist: She & HimTitle: Volume 2Release date: March 23Label: MergeMy editor has claimed this project a triumph for no other reason than I've chosen the new over the old -- sort of. See, I told Martin Cizmar a while back that I wanted to review tonight's Ray Davies concert. I love the Kinks. T ... More >>

The Dust Jacket: Velvet Eazy E and A Bowling Pin

​Welcome to The Grand Tour, a regular feature where PHXmusic.com takes you inside practice spaces, tour vans and seedy apartments occupied by Phoenix-area bands. This week we give you a look inside the industrial cozy space of Phoenix rockers The Dust Jacket. If you would like your band featured, ... More >>

Beastie Boys, The Rolling Stones, and America's Other Oldest Bands

Nothing Not New: I'm No Critic But I'm Also Not a Fan. I'm a Listener

What's Selling: Zia Records Tempe

​Vampire Weekend tops out the list of best selling records at Zia in Tempe this weekend. While Phoenix sold out their upcoming show at Marquee, they're not doing too bad in album sales either. Here are the trendy records bought trendy college kids are buying at Zia. 1. Vampire Weekend - Contra 2. ... More >>

Beach House: Teen Dream, in "Nothing Not New"

Welcome to "Nothing Not New," a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert re ... More >>

January 6 In Blogs: Cold War Kids, Butter, Tiger Woods, and Pizza

​In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries: Feathered Bastard: Joe Arpaio Sends His BFF E.J. Montini a Pizza, Per Their Little "Tradition" Up on the Su ... More >>

Goodbye, Modified Arts: Phoenix Scenesters Share Their Memories of the Downtown Music Venue

Cold War Kids

Loyalty to Loyalty
(Downtown Records)

Southwestern Comfort

Cool sounds + cool temps = coolio