I was hesitant to buy it at first, but I listened to their fourth record, Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, on a whim, expecting very little. Even the title was the sort of thing I felt was beneath this formerly great band. If it was any indication of the album's contents, I was in for a long slog.

To my great surprise, the album burst out of the gate with "Miracle Mile," the album's first single, and maybe the best song the band had written to date. It was all coming back to me, and to them.

That urgency in the staccato keys, the accentuating guitar riffs, the wailing vocal performance which was finally back up at the forefront of the mix, the lack of try-hard "need-a-hit-quick" bullshit that their previous two records reeked of, and the catchy chorus. This was an earworm like I hadn't heard in ages.

And then there were the self-conscious lyrics, almost speaking to me and others who had been disappointed by their decline. Nathan Willett's desperate white-boy soulful voice opens that song by declaring "I was supposed to do great things," before admitting that "if you start from scratch, you have to sing just for the fun of it."

In the gospel-inspired chorus, he says he's coming up for air. It's an admission, an apology, and a return all in one. It's the sound of a band coming back to life for the first time in seven years.

The rest of the album held up just as well, but it failed to make an impact on the listening public. Seven years on, after all, is a long ways out to win back to hearts and minds of critics and the general public; Lonelyhearts was less of a hit than their previous two stale records.

These things take time though, and Cold War Kids will release their fifth effort, Hold My Home, tomorrow. So far, it sounds just as great as Dear Miss Lonelyhearts.

This band has improved in every way. Their songwriting is top-notch again, and lead single "All This Could Be Yours" is another fantastic example of everything they do well. They're playing to their strengths for the first time since 2006.

They're also aided by new recruits on production, guitar and drums. Dear Miss Lonelyhearts was in part so successful because it was produced by the team of former Mars Volta sound manipulator and engineer Lars Stalfors and former Modest Mouse guitarist Dann Gallucci. Gallucci, for his part, has since joined the band-full time on guitar while bringing in fellow Modest Mouse alum Joe Plummer to play drums. Stalfors also produced Hold My Home.

So far, these changes have led to a massive musical comeback for the Kids, but will it translate to commercial and critical success? Only time will tell. They certainly spent a lot of good will over the years that they struggled to find themselves.

I'll be rooting for them, but for now I'm content to watch as they make their return in secret, pulling out their best material in years even as the public is hesitant to catch on. In some years, regardless of what Cold War Kids do in the future, these albums are only going to gain in esteem as people realize what brilliant songwriters these guys could be when at their best.

ROCKS OFF'S GREATEST HITS

The Ask Willie D Archives Houston's Top 10 Day-Drinking Bars Hardcore's Five MVPs Right Now 10 More Houston Acts You Should Be Listening To Houston's Top 10 Hip-Hop Clubs