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The Cold War Kids: Christian College Educated Musicians + Indie Rock = Cranky Music Critics

June 27, 2007
Posted by Pastor Matt Johnson

This isn’t new-news but in case you were wondering: Pitchfork Media have outed The Cold War Kids as being a Christian Rock Band in disguise with their review of Robbers and Cowards. In response, there was a perceptive piece written by Seth Combs in the Sandiego City Beat where he, in turn, outs Pitchfork Media writer Marc Hogan for his blatant snobbery by saying “[it's] as if [Hogan was] hit by a lightning bolt from the bitter gods of music journalism….At one point, he even compared [Cold War Kid's lyrics] to George W. Bush’s genuflecting speeches.”

I’m inclined to say that Combs’ piece is pretty on the money. He’s absolutely right for calling out a snarky writer. But at the same time, what is it that garners respect in the same pool of Pitchfork writers for Christian artists Johnny Cash, Sufjan Steven or the Danielson Family?

Here’s Comb’s answer: “It’s simple, really: Those artists wear their spirituality like a fish sticker on the bumper of a mini-van. U2’s religion didn’t block their path to superstardom, but they were extremely open about their Catholic faith. After a while, people got over it and just focused on the music.”

I get the point but I’m not completely sure I agree. Could it be instead that many Christian Rockers aren’t willing to fully embrace the messiness of the already-but-not-yet reality of Romans 7 ala Johnny Cash or Nick Cave? I agree that lazy criticism and sound-byte psuedo-intellectualism that equates Christian themed lyrics as synonomous with Christian Jihad-ism is lame. But maybe the critics smell a rat because the CWK’s don’t seem willing to publicly embrace their faith out of want for indie-cred.

Says Combs: “Having failed to clearly report their religious ‘baggage’ to the customs officers of popular culture, Cold War Kids are almost viewed as missionary spies who’ve infiltrated the largely agnostic world of rock ‘n’ roll. Rock writers view them as fakes–hiding their religion in order to ‘make it’ in a secular scene–and think it’s their duty to ‘out’ the band. And, dubious or not, outlets like Pitchfork, which has a reputation of approaching topics such as religion from an us-versus-them standpoint, will go out of their way to brand the Kids as Jesus freaks.”

But where does all the faith ambiguity come from? Maybe it’s Cold War Kid quotes that say, in effect, that faith in their music is “totally besides the point of the song, it takes the art out of it. It’s tabloid, to think of someone’s song as though it’s his explicit belief in something.” So a Christian world-view coming through a song lyric takes the art out of it? Or when asked if they are a “Christian band” CWK’s member Willet says “”No, no, we don’t wanna be that,” he said in the OC Weekly “Definitely not at all. I’m realizing now that this could be a thing we talk about more and we kind of have to keep the perception of it at a good point-but it’s almost beside the point. What I hope is that we present ourselves as storytelling-we’re not trying to push an idea on you. I don’t have an agenda for what I want you to believe. But I do want you to hear the story.”

My point isn’t that the Cold War Kids need to be more “on fire for the Lord” as they use their music as a “tool” for evangelism. God didn’t need to slap a bible verse on a sunset to legitimize the sunset and a band doesn’t always need a “clear evangelical message” quota. But with an album that’s ripe with biblical–even somewhat evangelical–content, what’s the hang up? To wear something on your sleeve in a song and then be sneaky about it in the press….what’s the deal?

Believe me, I get it. I’ve been over and over and over the “Christian music” debate a million times. I’m completely familiar with a Francis Schaeffer take on the Christian in the arts. People are Christians, not things like music. Using ”Christian” as an adjective is creepy and maybe–and this is totally a guess–this is the same kind of stuff the CWK’s are struggling through. Maybe they want the music to be judged objectively without a utilitarian message overshadowing the mertit of the music. Or maybe there isn’t consensus within their own band as to what they believe and things get complicated come press time.

Whatever the case, the fact still remains that music communicates something and that something can’t help but be informed by a worldview. And the CWK’s most certianly seem to have a worldview. So a little honesty would be nice for a change. Cause it’s kind of confusing to read “In the end, Cold War Kids just don’t think their religion is an important topic” from a writer who’s seemingly trying to defend the credibility of a band that seems to be pretty JC friendly.

In the end, debates about whether a band is a “Christian Band” or not are kind of pointless. And I’m encouraged more and more Christian musicians are seperating themselves from the Christian Rock Ghetto. And I’m really glad to see many of the same bands doing so well commercially (the CWK’s are opening for the White Stripes on their latest tour after all!). Expecting everyone to fit a mold of acceptability when it comes to one’s faith and how that informs their craft is spiritually juvenille. 

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a rant against CWK’s at all. I think Hang Me Up To Dry is a good song. But I can’t help but think that being dodgy about faith in music smacks of a cultural-inferiority complex.