Kevin Bronson on February 18th, 2013

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More than seven years after they first played beneath the locally famous “Salvation” sign, Cold War Kids returned to that familiar berth on Wednesday night, seeking a spark of renewal as the release of their fourth album “Dear Miss Lonelyhearts” approaches April 2.

Of course, both Cold War Kids and the sign have moved on since those ragged days the Orange County-bred band first brought their clattering indie-rock to L.A. Those first shows came at the Silverlake Lounge, where the buzz from their December 2005 residency vaulted them into local lore and toward a record deal with Downtown. The “Salvation” sign vacated the Silverlake Lounge last May when the Fold promoter Scott Sterling stopped booking shows there, but on Wednesday night it reappeared at the Fold’s new home, the Bootleg Theater.

• ||| Photos by Kelsey Heng

It gave Cold War Kids’ floor-shaking, 80-minute gig the feel of a homecoming show, even if it was anything but.

The Kids, on the rebound from a third album that despite its A-list producer (Jacquire King) and more radio-friendly fare failed to live up to commercial expectations, seem to be returning conceptually to the narrative songwriting roots of their 2006 debut “Robbers & Cowards.” There, frontman Nathan Willett’s wounded wail spun mini-morality tales around the band’s irony-free warrior blues – cathartic to some, unfairly written off as proselytizing by others who curiously canonize artists with more overt messages.

It looks as if Cold War Kids have more stories to tell. The title track of “Dear Miss Lonelyhearts” led off the show, followed a song later by the new piano-driven single “Miracle Mile.” Near the end, new songs “Jailbirds” and “Fear & Trembling” recalled the spark of Cold War Kids’ early EPs (although less rough-edged, of course), concise lyrically and convincing sonically.

Sprinkled through were catalog favorites – “Rubidoux,” “Hang Me Up to Dry” and “We Used to Vacation,” which date to their 2006 EPs; “Louder Than Ever,” “Royal Blue” and “Cold Toes on the Cold Floor” from 2011’s “Mine Is Yours;” and “Audience” (2010) and “Minimum Day” (2012), two between-album releases that stand up as strong as anything on the band’s records.

All were played with typically punk energy, Willett singing with his revivalesque fervor, bassist Matt Maust bumping bodies with people real and imaginary and drummer Matt Aveiro focused in the back. New to the mix were Dann Gallucci, who joined up after original guitarist Jonnie Russell departed Cold War Kids in late 2011, and Matt Schwartz (Chasing Kings), a multi-instrumentalist/backup vocalist who was playing his first show since joining as a touring member.

If Wednesday’s sold-out show marked  the literal return of “Salvation” – and, by the way, the Fold’s Sterling said he wasn’t sure whether the sign would remain a permanent fixture at the Bootleg – Cold War Kids’ fans certainly appeared ready to sign up for more.

Superhumanoids, whose long-awaited debut will be out on Innovative Leisure later this year, opened with a characteristically dreamy set of synth-pop; theirs is a world that revolves around artier ’80s influences but is not too beholden to their gravity.

||| Live: Cold War Kids play Thursday at the Observatory (with Superhumanoids) and May 24 at the Fonda Theatre.