the 90s when an influx of post-grunge and nu-metal bands caused havoc around music venues (many have of these sites have now gone)? One band which is part of this movement are Jacksonville natives Cold. Fronted/formed by multi-instrumentalist Scooter Ward. Years have flown by since their self-titled, Ross Robinson produced record of 1997 which featured Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst.
In 2019, on September 13th Cold release their sixth studio album via Napalm Records, The Things We Can’t Stop. I’m interested in hearing the similarities or differences from self-titled record Cold and 1998 EP Oddity. Scooter and crew have always maintained deep, open-hearted lyrics from depression to bullying to addiction and more and can be uneasy listening.
Leading single, “Shine” has a thunderous repetitive drum beat, a bit like My Chemical Romance’s “Teenagers” as Scooter Ward’s vocal story tells of bullying which the main character is going through. The tenderly dark “Snowblind” has euphoric guitar riffs suitable for a reminiscing moment and strong lyrics about life as an addict, which Scooter openly talks about.
Cold also cover Snow Patrol’s “Run”. I always struggle with bands doing covers when they don’t need to. It’s a nice song and I get it’s an appreciation of other artists, but there doesn’t feel any difference in style by Cold – they don’t make it their own.
The Things We Can’t Stop allows Scooter and crew to show heart to their fans musically by giving a sound to depression. “Without You” kicks it up a gear, especially the bass which stands out and gives the tune extra force. They acknowledge how certain areas of life can be overtaken mentally via obsession over a drug, a person, a place or thing and how to get out from under.
Track eleven, “Beautiful Life” has a piano intro, a la The Beatles. This is a romance sort of song.. well, I think it is as I have no idea what romance is, but Scooter wrote this for his wife, the mother of his teenage kid. He tells us what she means to him, being with someone suffering depression can be hard and she shows strength to him during his dark times.
It’s interesting as, after 2011’s Superfiction release, Scooter suffered from writer’s block for quite some time. He watched Nick Cave’s powerful documentary, One More Time With Feelings, and it kicked him up the arse to start creating, hence we get this sixth studio album.
The Things We Can’t Stop is released on 13th September
Header image by Mary Bove Photography
Cold: official | facebook | twitter | instagram
