Hold My Home

Hold My Home
Studio album by Cold War Kids
Released October 21, 2014
Recorded 2013-2014
Genre Indie rock
Length 39:32
Label Downtown Records
Producer Lars Stalfors and Dann Gallucci
Cold War Kids chronology

Tuxedos
(2013)		 Hold My Home
(2014)
Singles from Hold My Home
  1. "All This Could Be Yours"
    Released: July 15, 2014
  2. "First"
    Released: March 17, 2015

Hold My Home is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Cold War Kids. It was released on October 21, 2014 under Downtown Records.

Following the mild reception of their fourth album Dear Miss Lonelyhearts and the departure of original drummer Matt Aveiro, the band enlisted former Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer and started work on their next album. Hold My Home was released to mixed reviews from music critics who argued over its production and songwriting. The album has spawned two singles: "All This Could Be Yours" and "First".

Background

After finishing their tour for their fourth album Dear Miss Lonelyhearts and digital-only EP Tuxedos,[1] the band announced that a fifth album was in the works.[2] On November 10, 2013, the Orange County Register reported that drummer Matt Aveiro had left the band, and that Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer would be holding his place indefinitely. It is unclear whether or not Aveiro's leave is permanent or temporary.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 58/100[4]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [5]
Consequence of Sound D+[6]
Paste 7.9/10.0[7]
PopMatters [8]
Under the Radar [9]

Hold My Home received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who argued over its production and songwriting. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 58, based on 6 reviews.[4]

AllMusic's Heather Phares praised the production throughout the album, calling it the band's best work since Robbers & Cowards concluding, "with 'Hold My Home', they emerge as a more straightforward band, and also a more confident and engaging one."[5] Philip Cosores of Paste credited new members Gallucci and Plummer for raising the album's taste level over the previous two records and giving the band a whole new identity.[7] Christian Koons of Under the Radar was mixed about the different styles used throughout the album concluding with, "The band's stylistic exploration is brave and admirable, but Home suffers most from a lack of consistency."[9]

Colin Fitzgerald of PopMatters was critical of the album's production and songwriting, finding the band trying too hard to emulate previous influences concluding with, "on 'Hold My Home', their attempt is a failure, featuring no virtuosity, no experimentation, no honesty, no power of any kind, just stodgy, empty confidence in place of anything worth saying."[8] Colin Brennan of Consequence of Sound was also critical about the album, looking past the references and glimpses of merit in the songs to find the material by-the-numbers and lacking soul.[6]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "All This Could Be Yours"   3:08
2. "First"   3:20
3. "Hot Coals"   3:28
4. "Drive Desperate"   4:10
5. "Hotel Anywhere"   3:11
6. "Go Quietly"   3:51
7. "Nights & Weekends"   2:55
8. "Hold My Home"   2:50
9. "Flower Drum Song"   3:37
10. "Harold Bloom"   4:13
11. "Hear My Baby Call"   4:49

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 61
US Billboard 200[11] 56
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[12] 8
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[13] 8
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[14] 14

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Australia[15] October 17, 2014 Digital download, CD, Vinyl Downtown
United States[16] October 21, 2014
France[17] October 27, 2014
Germany[18] March 6, 2015 Sony Music

References

  1. ↑ Coplan, Chris (2013-08-15). "Cold War Kids announce Tuxedos EP, stream unreleased "Pine St."". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  2. ↑ Jackson, Nate (2013-11-07). "Cold War Kids Prep for a New Record, Realize That Growing Up Means Lightening Up". OC Weekly. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  3. ↑ Cosores, Philip (2013-11-10). "Cold War Kids wrap tour in revamped form". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Critic Reviews for Hold My Home". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Phares, Heather. "Hold My Home - Cold War Kids". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Brennan, Colin (2014-10-20). "Cold War Kids – Hold My Home". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cosores, Philip (2014-10-21). "Cold War Kids: Hold My Home Review". Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fitzgerald, Colin (2014-11-05). "Cold War Kids: Hold My Home". PopMatters. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Koons, Christian (2014-11-13). "Cold War Kids: Hold My Home (Downtown) Review". Under the Radar. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  10. ↑ "Cold War Kids – Hold My Home". Australiancharts.com. Hung Medien.
  11. ↑ "Cold War Kids Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for Cold War Kids.
  12. ↑ "Cold War Kids Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Alternative Albums for Cold War Kids.
  13. ↑ "Cold War Kids Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Independent Albums for Cold War Kids.
  14. ↑ "Cold War Kids Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Cold War Kids.
  15. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Hold My Home by Cold War Kids". iTunes (AU). Apple. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  16. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Hold My Home by Cold War Kids". iTunes (US). Apple. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  17. ↑ "Hold My Home: Cold War Kids, Dann Gallucci: Amazon.fr: Musique". Amazon.fr. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Hold My Home: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved April 17, 2015.

External links