Girl at the Rock Shows

I’ve talked about this before, but I feel like checking out music from all over the world makes this giant planet feel just a wee bit more accessible, and I love that. One of the biggest things I’ve learned from checking out music from all over is that, although oceans and countries away, we are all going through the same things and that reigns supreme when it comes to ‘The sun goes down alone’, the new album from Norway’s Cold Shoulders.

This nine-song album starts with “Don’t wanna fall.” A hollow introduction to the song gives way to the full band yet chill sound of Cold Shoulders pretty instantly. As the vocals came in, I was given all sorts of 90’s alt-rock vibes, which was more than perfect for a 90’s baby like myself. Think John Mellencamp with a slight Soul Asylum grit. Glittery guitar intricacies highlight this track and move it forward much quicker than you may have wanted it to move. The vocals come with a slight sense of heartbreak, which adds to the depth of the track. Overall, “Don’t wanna fall” was my perfect introduction to this band.

“I will break” brings an almost triumphant and boisterous sound to the instrumentation, while the vocals keep this song in the more chill zone of things. I love the sound of the keyboard that comes through in this song. It makes me want to relate this song to acts like Low Cut Connie or Bleachers with the way it fits in the song but also brings attention to the retro tint of Cold Shoulders, but, at the same time, I feel like that’s not entirely the proper comparison. I felt such a ridiculous sense of warmth in the vocals. I know that I’ve never met the three men who make up this trio, yet somehow, I felt that the words of this song were written for me. Again, I know that’s not at all the truth, yet I loved how close this song made me feel to Cold Shoulders.

The third song on this album, “Through my arms”, seems to focus a bit more on the tender side of this band and it just really expand on that cozy warmth that I felt in “I will break”. I’ll be honest, although only three songs into a nine-song album, I’m already finding myself lost for words. Part of it is that the sound of Cold Shoulders is such an easy one to get lost in, and the other part is that all of these songs have the same vibe and feel. I feel like a lot of people feel that that’s a bad thing, but I love it because it shows just how secure Cold Shoulders is in their sound. Redundant? Sure, maybe that’s one way to describe it, but it’s a pleasant redundancy that I wouldn’t be mad if it were to continue through the rest of this album.

“Done again” surprised me a bit with the slightly sharper tongue that comes through in the lyrics and the way that seems to be mirrored in some of the guitar riffs in this track. It’s not aggressive, honestly, far from, but there are just some words and some guitar parts that seem a bit more abrasive than in the previous tracks and I love how it seemed to show a more ominous side of such a positive band. That ominous side changes to heartbreak when it comes to “Blood red sun” which continues to show the various sides of this band so perfectly. A more slow and somber track, the way these two songs are back to back on the album is genius. Maybe it was by design, perhaps it was luck; regardless, I felt that, although definitely still the same band, being able to hear these other sides of the band back to back really pulled me out of the idea that this album feels a bit redundant.

“No more honey” has an almost southern swagger to it that instantly made this song stand out a bit more when compared to the previous ones. Thinking back to the first five songs, this element may have been there all along, but something about the guitar tone in this song and the overall progression of the composition just had a bit more southern drawl to it. Am I crazy? Maybe. Regardless, this song caught my attention without feeling completely out of left field for Cold Shoulders, and I loved sitting here trying to figure out why.

By the time “When the time is right” took over my speakers, I couldn’t help but think about seeing this band live and how well received they would be here in the Twin Cities. Soul Asylum is about to play First Avenue’s legendary main room and I could see Cold Shoulders being such a great band to open that show. On top of that, their music has such an energy that it just begs to be seen live. Obviously, it wouldn’t be a show full of mosh pits and flying limbs but as “When the time is right” played, I couldn’t help but imagine being lost in a sea of people swaying to the slow and steady beat while smiling from ear to ear. This all goes back to what I was saying in the beginning. Although separated by over 4000 miles of land and sea, there is something super familiar about Cold Shoulders’ sound.

Remember when I said that I felt the lyrics of “I will break” spoke to my soul? It’s nothing compared to how the lyrics of “There’s another day” hit me. Although today was a good day, I’m feeling mentally exhausted. Somehow, Cold Shoulders knew that and gave me this song as a bit of a shoulder to cry on. I’ve held it together all day, but as this song played, I couldn’t help but let the emotions fall out of my eyes. It wasn’t a manic cry, but it was one of those cries that happens when you realize that, even with everything going on, you’re not alone and that “There’s another day.” This isn’t the most upbeat track of the album, but this was absolutely my favorite, just with the sheer cathartic response that I had to it.

‘The sun goes down alone’ ends with “Neon lights.” I’m not going to lie, I was a bit lost and ready to just call it a night with the emotions I was feeling in “There’s another day” but “Neon lights” acted like the perfect pick-me-up song to get me back in the mood to get stuff done tonight. With a driving beat in the instrumentation and a sense of determination and power in the vocals, I loved how Cold Shoulders almost acknowledges that they just hit you with a super deep and slightly dark track, but that’s not how the story ends. The story ends with a feeling of resilience, a feeling that you can only get when getting lost in the buzz of neon lights.

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