Richard Swift/Cold War Kids

Thu., Nov. 29, 9 p.m., $15, with We Barbarians, Fillmore at the TLA, 334 South St., 215-336-2000, ticketmaster.com.

by A.D. Amorosi

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Published: Nov 27, 2007

rock/pop

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Best double bill of the month, this. You've got Cold War Kids, a California band whose name sounds routinely emo but whose vocals (thanks, Nathan Willett) have that quavering Jeff Buckley/Billie Holiday vibe with an oddly haunting MBV-like ambience behind them. Mix that with soulful piano-filled melodies and deeply nuanced lyrics about alcoholism and stealing from the parish priest and you've got 2006's best never-known CD, Robbers & Cowards. Then there's one of 2007's least-appreciated greats, Dressed Up for the Letdown by Richard Swift. The Tin Pan Alley troubadour with the lo-fi electro sensibility and the dub-ish echo has all the sonic earmarks of a bored Harry Nilsson or Rufus Wainright at his most laconic. But you can count on Swift's blasé vocal passages to be the eye of a swell musical tornado, like the quiet rushes of galloping blips ("Building in America") and honky-tonk pianos ("The Songs of National Freedom") that make up his Letdown. Gorgeous.

Thu., Nov. 29, 9 p.m., $15, with We Barbarians, Fillmore at the TLA, 334 South St., 215-336-2000, ticketmaster.com.

 

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