It has to be said, The Cold Open is very deceiving with its name alone. With a name like this, it would be fair to expect to hear a deep rooted hate machine turning songs that are loud and possibly obnoxious in their own right. But when you pop in Behind The Mattress, it is not a blast of high energy dad-hating that you hear. No, this is actually a batch of happy-go-lucky, songwriter-oriented pop songs that are reminiscent to the likes of The New Radicals. But be happy for this deception. It might actually be a perfect fitting bit of irony for these Twin City aristocrats.
Behind The Mattress kicks things into gear in with the 50’s diner-worthy cut “Indian Summer”. If it were necessary to define a track like this with only one word, let’s go with cute. But as the album progresses, things change a bit. It moves on through rougher melody-driven songs like “Off The Mark” that mysteriously sounds a tad like a lo-fi and less hysterical version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (at times). They bring back the cutest for a moment on “If I Loved You”, but really knock it out of the park almost pop punk sounding track “Rosaline”. While it might not be right to consider The Cold Open that moves like a fast pace roller coaster thrill ride, we can at least give them the credit as being something like an extremely fast pace carousel.
Although every member of The Cold Open brings something special to the pop-centric table they have hand-crafted with their individualistic style, part-time vocalist Susie DeKarske is without a doubt the shining light. Her sweet chirping voice seems as though it were tuned more for a modern folk sound which brings a brilliant contrast to her counterparts Aron Rice and Luke DeKarske (Yes, he’s Susie’s brother, but not in a Jack and Meg way, a real brother) and their much rougher but desperately loving vocals. That being said, Behind The Mattress is the type of album that brings together many things that create a major contrast with today’s average indie rock outfit. And that is okay. In fact, it is simply great and even a bit irresistible.
The Cold Open has since shuffled their line-up a little.
[CD, 2010]
1. Indian Summer
2. I’m Not Calling You
3. We Said
4. Off The Mark
5. S.A.D.
6. Twentynine
7. If I Loved You
8. Wait
9. Rosaline
10. What Is Real