'Reagan babies, missile fears, and international blues?' It might seem like an unlikely place to start with to write popular music but boy these kids seem to have managed it. Cold War Kids started out playing - hollering, stomping and chanting - together in a storage room atop Mulberry Street restaurant in downtown Fullerton, California. Taking their lead from Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday and the Velvet Underground, gritty human environments are where their tunes start, as they set about conjuring fragile lives and complex relationships. The Kids are Nathan (lead vocals, guitar), Jonnie (vocals, guitar), Matt (bass) and another Matt who bangs the drums. We rang him for a quickie… Words: Natasha Siggers

Tell us where the name Cold War Kids came from?
Our bass player was in Budapest when he came across all of these kids playing on crumbled statues from the Stalin era – we went with it!

Do you think that America is still waging a kind of Cold War?

Well there’s a hot war in Iraq! Yeah, it's like that Cold War state never went away... Nathan writes our lyrics, we try to stay on top of politics.

Which bands on the US/UK scene are earning your respect right now?
We’re all big fans of TV On The Radio, it goes without saying but Radiohead, as ever. There’s also an ace band called Pink Mountaintops you should check out from Canada - they did a Coldplay cover and I actually liked it.

What is your favourite track on the album and why?
'Robbers' was the last one we wrote, I like it for the drumming which was recorded through a hallway into a mic in a bathroom! 'Saint John' is also interesting for the drums, we had three drummers playing at once, picked up by different mics, all offbeat and slightly out of rhythm, a push-pull effect.

Did you guys use any unusual instruments on the album?
We experimented with loads of different guitars, as well as playing one guitar through two amps simultaneously. There were vintage organs, shakers, a Casio keyboard, some ancient Christmas bells!

What kind of mood can people expect on the record?
It's definitely a live album, if I can say that! We recorded it in a big open room with a control panel, it’s not perfect but it’s a real band playing. We make music about serious everyday topics but our sound is generally optimistic. It’s an honest record, hopefully you’ll like it!

COLD WAR KIDS' DEBUT ALBUM ‘ROBBERS AND COWARDS’ IS OUT 5TH FEBRUARY (V2 RECORDINGS)