Cold War Kids

Until recently, indie-rock buzz band Cold War Kids had managed to find and steadily build its audience without label support. In fact, Internet hype had made the group's releases, all EPs, nearly impossible to get. The band recently chose Downtown Records (home of Gnarls Barkley and Art Brut) to release its upcoming full-length debut, Robbers and Cowards, which is hotly anticipated by fans and the music-blog set alike. Like one of the band's major influences, master storyteller Tom Waits, the Kids center their songs on characters — hyper-intelligent children, unflinching alcoholics and hospital-bound old men all make appearances on Robbers. That knack, the band's unusual blend of blues and Britpop, and its deep love of the Yamaha CP70 electric grand piano make the music addictive, strangely familiar and, most of all, exciting.