Hold My Home
The cover consists of a white background with the band's logo covering it in bold black letters. In between the spaces is the album title in black paint-like design.
Studio album by
Cold War Kids
ReleasedOctober 21, 2014 (2014-10-21)
RecordedMarch – April 2014
StudioPort of Call Studio (San Pedro)
GenreIndie rock, indie pop
Length39:32
LabelDowntown
ProducerLars Stalfors and Dann Gallucci
Cold War Kids chronology
Tuxedos
(2013)		 Hold My Home
(2014)		 L.A. Divine
(2017)
Singles from Hold My Home
  1. "All This Could Be Yours"
    Released: July 15, 2014
  2. "First"
    Released: February 17, 2015[1]

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 percussionist Joe Plummer and started work on their next project. Hold My Home has spawned two singles: "All This Could Be Yours" and "First". The album was released to mixed reviews from music critics who argued over its production and songwriting. To promote the record, the band toured across North America.

Background

After finishing their tour for their fourth album Dear Miss Lonelyhearts and digital-only EP Tuxedos,[2] the band announced that a fifth record was in the works.[3] 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.[4]

Promotion

On October 21, the band announced a tour to support the project, beginning with Denver's Ogden Theatre on January 21, 2015[5] and finishing at Portland's Crystal Ballroom on October 15, 2016.[6] On November 20, they performed "All This Could Be Yours" on the talk show Conan.[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic55/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Clash7/10[10]
Consequence of SoundD+[11]
Drowned in Sound7/10[12]
Exclaim!8/10[13]
Paste7.9/10[14]
PopMatters[15]
Under the Radar[16]

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 55, based on 7 reviews.[8]

AllMusic's Heather Phares praised the production throughout the record, calling it the band's best work since Robbers & Cowards concluding that, "with 'Hold My Home', they emerge as a more straightforward band, and also a more confident and engaging one."[9] 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.[14] Mackenzie Herd of Exclaim! also praised the new additions for their contributions to the various songs throughout the record, concluding that the band "have reinvigorated their sound with a new lineup, elbow grease and a knack for telling interesting stories in a unique voice."[13]

Mat Smith of Clash praised the album for bringing back the dynamics and techniques heard in Robbers & Cowards only more disciplined, concluding that, "This far into their career, Cold War Kids should be thinking about a greatest hits - 'Hold My Home' is more or less that, given the staple reference points of the band that it covers, and yet it's all new and all the more vibrant for it."[10] Haydon Spenceley of Drowned in Sound called the record "a mature, fully-realised piece of work," praising Willett's versatile vocals and the songs for expounding creativity through its instrumentals, saying that "In short, Cold War Kids are several bands at once. They have creativity in spades, yet somehow each fine-tuning, each iteration of their arsenal still sounds like 'them'."[12]

Colin Fitzgerald of PopMatters was critical of the album's production and songwriting, finding the band trying too hard to emulate previous influences concluding that, "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."[15] Colin Brennan of Consequence of Sound was also critical about the record, looking past the references and glimpses of merit in the songs to find the material by-the-numbers and lacking soul.[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Cold War Kids

No.TitleLength
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

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of Hold My Home.[17]

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 61
US Billboard 200[19] 56
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[20] 8
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[21] 8
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[22] 14

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
Australia October 17, 2014 Digital download, CD, Vinyl Downtown [23]
United States October 21, 2014 [24]
France October 27, 2014 [25]
Germany March 6, 2015 Sony Music [26]

References

  1. ↑ "R&R :: Going For Adds :: Alternative". Radio & Records. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ Coplan, Chris (August 15, 2013). "Cold War Kids announce Tuxedos EP, stream unreleased "Pine St."". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  3. ↑ Jackson, Nate (November 7, 2013). "Cold War Kids Prep for a New Record, Realize That Growing Up Means Lightening Up". OC Weekly. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ Cosores, Philip (November 10, 2013). "Cold War Kids wrap tour in revamped form". Orange County Register. Freedom Communications. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  5. ↑ Kuchick, Natalie (October 27, 2014). "Cold War Kids announce tour dates for 2015". AXS. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Cold War Kids Fall Tour 2016". Facebook. May 23, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ Kaye, Ben (November 21, 2014). "Cold War Kids perform "All This Could Be Yours" on Conan". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Critic Reviews for Hold My Home". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  9. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Hold My Home - Cold War Kids". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 6, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Smith, Mat (September 3, 2015). "Cold War Kids - Hold My Home". Clash. Music Republic. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Brennan, Colin (October 20, 2014). "Cold War Kids – Hold My Home". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on May 23, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  12. 1 2 Spenceley, Haydon (March 9, 2015). "Album Review: Cold War Kids - Hold My Home". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  13. 1 2 Herd, Mackenzie (October 21, 2014). "Cold War Kids Hold My Home". Exclaim!. Ian Danzig. Archived from the original on May 23, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Cosores, Philip (October 21, 2014). "Cold War Kids: Hold My Home Review". Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  15. 1 2 Fitzgerald, Colin (November 5, 2014). "Cold War Kids: Hold My Home". PopMatters. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  16. ↑ Koons, Christian (November 13, 2014). "Cold War Kids: Hold My Home (Downtown) Review". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  17. ↑ Hold My Home (liner notes). Cold War Kids. Downtown. 2014.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Cold War Kids – Hold My Home". Hung Medien.
  19. ↑ "Cold War Kids Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Cold War Kids Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Cold War Kids Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Cold War Kids Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  23. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Hold My Home by Cold War Kids". iTunes (AU). Apple. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  24. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Hold My Home by Cold War Kids". iTunes (US). Apple. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Hold My Home: Cold War Kids, Dann Gallucci: Amazon.fr: Musique". Amazon.fr. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Hold My Home: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
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