'I Think It's Beautiful'

One selection per each member for a record that they still hold true: Cold War Kids pick some firsts and bests (and "just raw!") to fill out the open air in their sound. At press time each release below was available in your more diligent record stores or of course illegally on the Internet.

BILLY CHILDISH,CRIMES OF THE FUTURE: BLUES RECORDINGS 1986-1999 (Sympathy, 1999): "It's recorded to four-track or maybe even two-track, all in bathrooms and stuff—the rawest you can get. Just raw! Tons of reverb and still a full record of great songs." (Matt Maust, bass)

ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS,DRUM SUITE(Columbia, 1956): "The first jazz record, in some ways, that I sort of understood and could relate to my own drumming—by dumbing down a lot of stuff on the record. The first jazz record to have an effect on me, stylistically." (Matt Aveiro, drums)

THE SPECIALS,MORE SPECIALS (Capitol, 1979): "One of the first albums I had when I started listening to albums for good reasons—when I was in junior high, to be inspired to listen to and play music." (Jonnie Russell, guitar/piano/vocals)

BILLIE HOLIDAY,BILLIE'S BLUES (Blue Note, 1954): "Great vocals and a live album. Just her vocal tones—her voice is just so dark and sad and depressing. And I think it's beautiful." (Nathan Willett, vocals/piano/guitar)