The Killers, 'Day and Age' (Island)
Brandon Flowers and Co. cruise the Vegas Strip once again.
By Stacey Anderson 11.24.08 10:22 AM
Hunter S. Thompson would not have liked this album. Which isn't saying much, considering he spent the majority of his time face-up spewing vitriolic rants about these shallow kids today and their endless entitlement. "A generation of dancers," he once seethed. And yet, this quote has inspired a boastful band from Las Vegas to bow their heads and once again make a respectably vivacious dance-rock album.
Listen: The Killers, Day and Age
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When Brandon Flowers sings, "Are we human or are we dancer?" on "Human," Day & Age's stylishly spry lead single, he speaks from experience; the Killers' first two LPs essentially split their personality. Hot Fuss (2004) introduced the boys as irresistibly tarty, retro new wavers, the best that Britain never had to offer. Sam's Town (2006) lobbied for everyman gravitas with Americana indulgence and pseudo–Bruce Springsteen proselytizing (driven over the edge by Flowers' new, Luxor-size ego). The sincere-sophomore-album trap has claimed countless glossy bands, but now the Killers largely rein in the excess and find a connection between their two extremes.
Opener "Losing Touch" unfolds, prophetically, with blaring saxophones and a broad David Bowie groove, establishing Day & Age's glam-rock core (overseen by "fifth member"/producer Stuart Price). Like Sam's Town, every track inflates steadily to echoing heights, but the band sounds more mindful than grandiose. This is a cohesive record, even though it's peppered with unexpected diversions; "I Can't Stay" is sweet Tropicália with steel drums and acoustic guitar, cresting in heaps of violins and melancholy. "This Is Your Life" pulses with pop-funk swagger, layering Bobby McFerrin–style chanting over a great marching bass line.
As with the previous albums, the Killers shine on more up-tempo songs (mostly because Flowers has less time to spout nonsense). "Spaceman" is a refreshingly straightforward, probing anthem in the Hot Fuss/New Order vein, though it does permit an interlude of Flowers' lofty inscrutability: "My global position systems are vocally addressed / They say the Nile used to run from east to west," he intones. (Geographers, talk amongst yourselves.) This is the posturing that, when unchecked in more languid songs, derails the band's atmospheric allure. Amid the churning piano swing of "A Dustland Fairytale," Flowers duels for dominance with guitarist Dave Keuning's arena-filling reverb, recycling Wild West imagery before adding, "Saw Cinderella in a party dress / But she was looking for a nightgown." Even the Boss would have a hard time selling that one.
But when they strip down the wordy solemnity, the Killers can deliver quite a spectacle. They remain fascinated by heartland mythos, but by becoming more comfortable with their glitzy roots, they've actually found the pulse of something more authentic. After all, you can't take the Vegas out of the showmen.
Very well written, kudos.
Though 2004 may be far behind us, and styles and trends glimmer and fade with the blink of an eye, certain areas of rock really haven't aged much beyond the turn of the century retro phase of digging out our older siblings collection of 80s new wave, dance and singer/songwriter records and so today's music trends continue to be more drenched in building off of the past and recreating the glory days of long ago. Normally, this isn't such a bad idea: learning from those before us to in turn learn to create on our own, but as we have seen in such cases as The Strokes, sometimes it comes down to merely trying to recreate fashions of decades past for the simple fact we have nothing new to say. Luckily it seems The Killers are learning these golden rules over time, surviving a sophomore slump in the vein of an grandiose overblown attempt at trying to recreate they glory days of both The Boss and Bono to finally admitting, "yes, we are from vegas, but we can still create" and thus Flowers and Co. have delivered their most balanced effort to date. While it may not strike a perfect balance between their electronic/pop tendencies and Flowers over the top lyricism at times, this is by far their most solid and even effort, combining their electronic/rock sensibilities with Flowers slow growth as a songwriter and delivering two impressive singles that are to date the most sincere efforts i have heard the band deliver yet. I am hoping this is a sign of better things to come for a band that always shows so much promise but always falls just as short.
I would have at least given them a 4. I mean you gave the Black Kids 4 stars! Come on, what's that all about?!!
I think you guys are trying to be just like Rollingstone; a magazine that can't even give the full credit to a band who really deserves it.
great review. the best thing I've read on the Killers yet.
Video Interview with the manager of The Killers:
http://www.crazedhits.com/interview-robert-reynolds/
Listening to The Killers these last few years, they have come to become one of my favourite bands. And personally i believe this album to be their best yet. With the first album the killers were something different. At the time there was few known bands that were producing this kind of dance-rock music, the killers do. But then with their second album they seemed to change, in my opinion for the worst. To me they became more mainstream/classic rock, this was a genre that many were doing and have done, and in some cases even mastered the genre. But with this third album i think the killers have found a good balance. A balance between the dance-rock off the first album, and the more traditional rock of their second. They also expanded their music by using more exotic instruments they probably wouldn't touch on their earlier albums. All in all, The Killers have created great rock that u can dance to, filled with catchy hooks and sing-a-long choruses. WIN!
You can listen the killers in this Web www.radiolamolina.com
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