House of Heroes - Cold Hard Want

House of Heroes is one of the best bands going right now. The band's 2010 release, Suburba, blew my mind. It was an epic summer rock record. It was also my real introduction to the band. I went back and picked up The End is Not the End and Say No More. I quickly realized that Sunurba wasn't House of Heroes hitting their stride but it was a continuation of an incredible band that knocked it out of the park on every record.

So my excitement for Cold Hard Want was super high.

And House of Heroes does not disappoint.

The band does have a couple of outside the box moments on Cold Hard Want that I'm still not sure about. The album's opener, A Man Who's Not Afraid, is a beautiful acapella, minute long song full of great harmonies. It's an interesting way to kick off the record that still has me scratching my head. The Cop is the track that I'm unsure about. It's a nice acoustic song but it feels a little out of place.

Even though there are two tracks that I'm unsure about, there are still ten incredible rock and roll songs.

Out Of My Way has an epic quality about it. It's an understated epicness (if that makes any sense). Dance (Blow It All Away) is full out, balls to wall rock and roll. Remember the Empire comes blazing in and I quickly begin to think that Cold Hard Want is nothing but hit after hit after hit. We Were Giants is more of a ballad  but still hits on all the right notes.

The album's first single, Touch This Light, is without a doubt the best song House of Heroes has ever written, which is really saying something because God Save Us The Foolish Kings is an amazing song!  Touch This Light is more straightforward than God Save Us and the hook is not quite as catchy but it's sonically more appealing. And I think that's the real selling point with Cold Hard Want.

House of Heroes has written dozens of great songs over their career and have always found ways to push themselves and create interesting arrangements and use different instrumentation to deliver fantastic soundtracks. But Cold Hard Want is more of a classic rock record. But within that classic rock record is a huge sound. I think having Eric Newcomer in studio with them really helped create a sonically dynamic sound. Cold Hard Want is 100% House of Heroes and yet 100% something new and different for the band.

Cold Hard Want, despite the two tracks I'm still iffy on, is one of my favorite records of 2012. It's an epic rock and roll record. If you've missed the House of Heroes bandwagon in the past, Cold Hard Want is a great place to jump on.