Nathan Willett of the band Cold War Kids performs at Century Park on August 15, 2015 in Century City, California.

Cold War Kids score their first leader on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, as "First" rises 3-1 on the Nielsen Music-based airplay list (dated Sept. 12).

The alt-rock group, formed in 2004 in Long Beach, Calif., had previously charted six titles on the tally between 2007 and last year, rising as high as No. 22 with "Miracle Mile" (2013). The band first entered the list with 2007's "Hang Me Up to Dry" (No. 26).

"First" is from Cold War Kids' fifth studio album, Hold My Home, released in October. "It's super rare that a song goes #1 a year after it comes out," the band marveled Tuesday on Twitter. "Praises go to the fans that have been with us for years, at shows singing along, telling us your stories.

"Plus the song is called FIRST, so it had to go #1, right?"

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On Hot Rock Songs, "First" rises 11-9, also marking the band's first top 10 on the airplay, sales and streaming-based chart. The track hits a new high (No. 3) on Rock Airplay (11 million in radio audience, up 9 percent); gains by 7 percent to 10,000 sold, marking its best sales week; and grows by 13 percent to 664,000 U.S. streams.

Now with a new No. 1 to perform, Cold War Kids continue touring, with dates lined up through Oct. 29 at Boston's House of Blues.