But last of the day and last in its averages…

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[4.14]

David Sheffieck: I never expected Cold War Kids to be one of the survivors of the early-2000s indie rock scene, but that they’ve done it by marrying their grating vocals with the guitar riff from “The Funeral” seems weirdly fitting.
[3]

Jonathan Bogart: Towards the end, there’s a curious suggestion of what it might have sounded like if Phil Collins had joined the Feelies, but that’s about all the interest I can find in this stutter-along slab of whinespiration.
[5]

Alfred Soto: It’s fascinating to hear the Mumford-ded handclaps, martial drums, echo, and the stentorian belief in romantic banalities become the mean of international pop (has Coldplay’s influence waned? Good). 
[4]

Micha Cavaseno: Bands like Cold War Kids are all doing the same story these days. They live in a world where radio playlists are slim and few between when the rock stations across America feel safer spinning songs from 50 years ago rather than lose the guy who’s been tuning in since he got that car 25 years ago. They were never “young” in the way that so many of the cheerful bands in the pop-punk scene will be even when they’re already in their 30s and talking careerist talk in the bus/van of their choice. They never quite had that one album that allowed them to go off and make the seven minute tribute to DJ Shadow and Neu! about mind control that they’ve known they were capable of, nor did they ever land the one commercial campaign that brought in the big bucks and the Shazams. Lean fish in a rapidly drying up riverbed, they’re so blatantly looking for a hit, that ever elusive miracle hook that feels like a gold rush victory way past the prospectors deserting these lands. The song smells of therapy, details becoming problems, resignation and failure beating on your door. Its not that Cold War Kids and all their peers sound frightened, that would be fair. Instead they sound compliant. 
[3]

Brad Shoup: Lord yes, give me treble.
[7]

Patrick St. Michel: Hey, they sorta listened to the Jukebox, even if it took a while. “First” avoids the grim narratives of a decade ago in favor of a big, vague, clap-a-long number built for cable TV drama (heyyyyy). It is certainly more “pop” in the sense that it is general and star-gazey enough to hit a lot of people, but also pretty tiring. 
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: Unimaginative indie plod with the clap track from a thousand Lumineers/Mumford singles, and a shouty male vocal. Not the first, won’t be the last.
[2]