New Age Norms 3 [Exclusive Neon Yellow]

The veteran indie-rock band push themselves ahead on the final leg of their three-album project.

As the title suggests, the guys have their minds on the ebb and flow of social mores forming in American culture, both over the last few years and since they got their start in 2006. The world looks different now than it did then. 

When New Age Norms 3 articulates the group’s own experiences with these changing times, it coheres nicely. Willett’s singing about love and commitment, as on “Always,” a synth-driven bop that reads like a hymn sung to his better half, and “Nowhere to Be,” a jazzy, soulful piece backed up by chiming piano and a purring chorus, helps the album speak to now instead of dwelling on the past.

New Age Norms 3 fluctuates between crooning and swooning, and lively, echoing tracks driven by thumping bass and percussion; “Underground” is depressing on the page but, if you tune out the lyrics, makes for good grooving through uptempo drumming. It’s a banger, as the youths say.

—
Cold War Kids Adapt to Changing Times with New Age Norms 3