"Cool Kids" is the debut single song by American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Echosmith Echosmith is an American indie pop band formed in February 2009 in Chino, California. Originally formed as a quartet of siblings, the band currently consists of Sydney, Noah and Graham Sierota, following the departure of eldest sibling Jamie in ...

from their 2013 debut studio album, ''

Talking Dreams ''Talking Dreams'' is the debut studio album by American indie pop band Echosmith. The album was released on October 1, 2013, through Warner Bros. Records. All songs on the album were co-written by the four Sierota siblings and their father, Jeffer ...

''. The song was written by Echosmith, Jeffery David, and Jesiah Dzwonek. It was produced by

Mike Elizondo Mike Elizondo (born October 22, 1972) is an American producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. A protege of Dr. Dre, Elizondo has worked with 50 Cent, Eminem, Carrie Underwood, Fiona Apple, Mastodon, Ry Cooder, Skylar Grey, Twenty ...

, with additional production on the radio edit by

Rob Cavallo Robert Siers Cavallo (born March 21, 1963) is an American record producer, musician, and record industry executive. He is among the biggest-selling producers in history, and has produced or had creative involvement in albums that have sold over ...

. "Cool Kids" was originally released on May 31, 2013, as the

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Single of the Week and officially impacted United States radio the following year. The song subsequently became a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...

, peaking at number 13 on the ''

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and receiving airplay on US

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

, and

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

stations.

Background

The song describes a boy and a girl who both desire to be noticed. In an interview, guitarist Jamie Sierota discussed the song's background, saying: "This cry to be like the cool kids… it's something that everyone kind of goes through whether you want to act like it or not... There's always somebody out there that you kind of wish, 'If only I could do this, or do that.' I think that's why it connects with people so well."

Composition

"Cool Kids" is written in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

, and follows a chord progression of Fm–D♭–A♭–E♭ (i–VI–III–VII). The tempo of the song is 129 beats per minute.

Music video

The song's official music video was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and directed by

Gus Black Anthony Penaloza, better known by his stage name Gus Black, (formerly known as Gus) is an American director, singer-songwriter, and producer from Los Angeles. He signed to Almo Sounds and released two albums on the label, 1996's ''Gus'' and ...

. It was released on June 21, 2013, on Echosmith's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. After the original video passed one million views, Echosmith released an acoustic version of the song. The band also released a new music video for "Cool Kids" on September 11, 2014, directed by

Mark Pellington Mark Pellington (born March 17, 1962) is an American film director, writer, and producer. Life and career Pellington was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Bill Pellington, an All-Pro linebacker who played football with the Baltimore Colts ...

Commercial performance

"Cool Kids" debuted at number 87 on the ''

for the issue dated July 26, 2014 and peaked at number 13. The song also reached the top ten of the ''Billboard''

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

and

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

charts, peaking at numbers 9 and 5 respectively. It was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on October 4, 2014, and passed the one million sales mark later on in the same month. As of December 2014, it has sold over 1.1 million copies in the United States. "Cool Kids" also peaked at number 6 on the Australian singles chart and was certified double platinum in the country.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2013 debut singles 2013 songs Warner Records singles Echosmith songs Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo Songs written by Jamie Sierota