They may be new kids on the Philadelphia rock block but Cologne have really arrived with a fully formed sound. One part stadium rock, one part indie cool and one part pop accessibility, it is hard to see who they wouldn’t appeal too. Musically it gives them great scope to build sonic architecture in the space around them but also play with subtle musical dynamics, deliver songs dripping with euphoria but also commercial accessibility.
And it is this fantastic generic balancing act which sets them apart from the pack As popists and rockists wage pointless pitched battle, Cologne clearly adhere to the cult of the song, preferring to take the role of tunesmiths who exalt composition over flash and muscle. If this song is the perfect rallying point for those who have long understood that this middle way has always sported brilliant acts – pop acts muscled up by a dash of rock, rock acts whose bluster is tempered by indie details and indie acts happy to explore pop immediacy – then the fact that hey have an e.p. called New World available is just the icing on the cake.
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