Roger's Year in Music 2014: Hold My Home, by Cold War Kids.

If this were an EP featuring only the first four tracks, it would be among my favorites of the year.

"All This Could Be Yours"
"First"
"Hot Coals"
"Drive Desperate"

As it stands, the forward momentum slows after these opening cuts. Cold War Kids occupy a place in my musical firmament where sound and mood trump memorable tunes, and while sound and mood can sweep me along, I use fewer extraneous chemicals than before, and the way my brain is wired is to embrace and fix those tunes. It seemingly dooms Cold War Kids to a second tier for me, although the group still can provide plenty of enjoyable snippets.