Cold War Kids @ Union Transfer.

Text and images by Grace Dickinson.

Like boys on a basketball court, the amount of bandmate camaraderie displayed at Cold War Kids show Friday overflowed. Though less butt slapping and more back tapping, there was a constant touch and feel chemistry present up on stage, even as the night wore on.

Together since 2004, Cold War Kids aren’t new to delivering sold-out performances like this one at Union Transfer. The West Coast band is currently on tour for their fourth album, Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, released earlier this month.

In delivering a bunch of new tracks, lead singer Nathan Willett confidently alternated from singing at the center mic to jamming on the side piano. Never far behind him was an energetic Matt Maust, the band’s longtime bassist.

When free, you’d find Maust’s left hand reaching for Willet’s back. When pressed to the strings of his instrument, you’d find him leaning back to back with Willet, using the leverage to lift his bass towards the sky. Those sudden, above-the-head lifts of the electric bass were frequent, as if puppet strings were suspending it throughout the night.

The latest album dominated most of the show, however, old favorites like “Hang Me Up to Dry,”off their first album, and “Louder Than Ever,” from 2010’s Mine is Yours, were also delivered. It was the oldies that really got the audience clapping, perhaps because Dear Miss Lonelyhearts is but two weeks old.

Willett hung a maraca from his front pocket when standing center stage, whipping it out when not strumming his guitar. Occasionally he asked the audience to sing along with him, a packed crowd who fully embraced the invitation.

After the hour-long set, Cold War Kids finished out the night with a two-song encore before heading to nearby Prohibition Taproom for a bite to eat. It was there where the members could be found cheersing to the night with a good night’s round of shots and a couple plates of fries.