"Cool Kids" is the debut single by American

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

band

Echosmith Echosmith is an American indie pop band formed in February 2006 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 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, Jeffe ...

'' (2013). The song was written by Echosmith, Jeffery David, and Jesiah Dzwonek. It was produced by

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

, 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 executive. He is among the biggest-selling producers in alternative music, having contributed to albums that have sold over 130 million units worldwi ...

. "Cool Kids" was originally released on May 31, 2013, as the iTunes Store 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 refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

, peaking at number 13 on the ''

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Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and receiving airplay on US

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

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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

, and

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

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 ...

, 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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and directed by

Gus Black Anthony Penaloza, better known by his stage name Gus Black and formerly known by the mononym Gus, is an American director, singer-songwriter, and producer. He signed to Almo Sounds and released two albums on the label, 1996's ''Gus'' and 1999' ...

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

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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 12, 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 American Football, football with t ...

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 Syste ...

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.

Other versions

In September 2022, the group released a new version of the song, labelled as "our version". The version was nominated for Self-Released Record of the Year at the

2023 Libera Awards The 2023 Libera Awards were held on June 15, 2023, to recognize the best in independent music of 2022 presented by the American Association of Independent Music. The ceremony took place at the The Town Hall (New York City), Town Hall in New York C ...

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2013 songs 2013 debut singles 2014 singles Warner Records singles Echosmith songs Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo Songs written by Jamie Sierota