About
Cold War Kids is an American indie-rock band known for their sweeping rock anthems. Its members include vocalist/guitarist/pianist Nathan Willet, bassist Matt Maust, drummer Matt Aveiro, and guitarist Jonnie Russell.
The members of Cold War Kids met at Biola University in the early 2000s, where they began to work on their bluesy and soulful take on indie rock. Their debut EP, Mulberry Street, was named after the restaurant underneath Jonnie Russelll’s apartment in California where the band wrote songs. The band’s next two EPs, With Our Wallets Full and Up in Rags, got them noticed by, and soon signed to Downtown Records in 2006. Robbers & Cowards was their full-length debut, a highly acclaimed album produced by Kevin Augunas.
Cold War Kids spent two years on the road following Robbers & Cowards, returning to work on their sophomore album, Loyalty to Loyalty, with Augunas. They then collaborated with producer Jacquire King, to record 2011’s Mine Is Yours. Jonnie Russell left the band in 2012, and was replaced by former Modest Mouse guitarist Dann Gallucci for Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, released in 2013. Matt Aveiro also left the band that year, and was replaced by another former Modest Mouse member, Joe Plummer.
2014 saw the release of Hold My Home, the first of the band’s albums to feature new vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Schwartz. One of the album’s singles, “First,” topped 2015’s Billboard Alternative charts and became the band’s highest-charting single. Moving to Capitol records in 2017, Cold War Kids put out L.A. Divine, which peaked at number one on Billboard Top Rock Albums chart. Their latest work is This Will All Blow Over in Time, released in 2018. The band tours and performs regularly, and is often booked for corporate entertainment events and private parties.
