Cold War Kids

Cold War Kids
Cold War Kids performing at the Hype Hotel in Texas at SXSW, 2013
Background information
Origin	Long Beach, California
Genres	Indie rock, blues rock, blue-eyed soul
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Downtown, MapleMusic, V2, Monarchy
Associated acts	Modest Mouse, We Barbarians
Website	coldwarkids.com
Members	Nathan Willett Matt Maust David Quon Matthew Schwartz Joe Plummer
Past members	Dann Gallucci Matt Aveiro Jonnie Russell

Cold War Kids is an American indie rock band from Long Beach, California. Band members are Nathan Willett (vocals, piano, guitar), Matt Maust (bass guitar), David Quon (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew Schwartz (backing vocals, keyboards & piano, percussion, guitar), and Joe Plummer (drums, percussion). Dann Gallucci (guitar, keyboards, percussion), Matt Aveiro (drums, percussion), and Jonnie Russell (guitar, vocals, piano, keyboards, percussion) are all former members of the band.

Forming in 2004 in Fullerton, the band's early releases came from independent record label Monarchy Music. In 2006, Cold War Kids signed with Downtown/V2 and released their major label debut Robbers & Cowards to cult appeal from fans and critics. 2008's Loyalty to Loyalty and 2011's Mine Is Yours saw the band develop different musical sounds and lyrical content throughout to mixed reviews. In 2013, Cold War Kids released their fourth album Dear Miss Lonelyhearts. Their most recent album Hold My Home was released on October 21, 2014.

The band members met at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. They formed a band in 2004 when they would meet regularly in Jonnie Russell's apartment above a restaurant called Mulberry Street in downtown Fullerton. Maust came up with the band's name during his travels in Eastern Europe with his brother in Budapest, where they found a park with statues that had been dumped after Communism fell. Seeing that there was a playground in that park, Maust stated "...being in that environment just made the phrase 'Cold War Kids' pop into my head. I may have heard it before. I'm a cold war kid, too – I was born in 1979." The band relocated to Whittier, California and began recording their first demo, which Monarchy Music released as the EP Mulberry Street (based on the restaurant they regularly met) in spring 2005. Between tours, the band released two more EPs: With Our Wallets Full and Up in Rags, in 2006. Monarchy Music would re-release those EPs as one compilation album titled Up in Rags/With Our Wallets Full in 2006.