The band churn out the dreariest material from both Sam’s Town and Day & Age, and – although I’m definitely in the minority – I find myself feeling a bit bored.
A respectable collection which raises the question: why do the Killers pad their albums out with mediocre filler, when they have at least some decent alternative material to spare?
As previously revealed on hotpress.com, The Killers will headline the Tennents Vital show in Belfast this August. Now organisers have confirmed support acts, as well as a change of venue.
They’ve embraced the big sound of America but The Killers still aren’t fully comfortable with the burdens of stardom, reveals frontman Brandon Flowers.
The singer is actually much more assured onstage than the last time I saw The Killers, at the Olympia in 2004, when his inhibitions seemed to be holding him back.
More slightly unhinged Americana from The Killers, this time sounding for all the world like Meat Loaf – complete with brass section and over-the-top choir. It’s taken a bit of time to get used to their second coming but it’s starting to sound very natural all of a sudden.
Having sold-out their previously announced Point Theatre date in less than 15 minutes, The Killers have announced additional Dublin shows in the RDS Main Hall on February 27 and 28.
Sam’s Town suggests that the newly face-fuzzed Brandon Flowers has contracted a serious dose of Bruce-llosis (a quick scan of the album’s titles yields a number of Boss buzzwords: “river”, “town”, “Jonny”, “wild”). No bad thing necessarily, but any rock band without the E-Streeters’ skill or Springsteen’s Steinbeckian grasp of American history should beware of straying across the wrong side of the New Jersey tracks and ending up in Bon Jovi-ville.
Sam’s Town consistently grandstands to the bleachers, makes cheap plays for the listener’s emotions and foolhardily flaunts with the conventions of good taste. Just like a great rock ‘n’ roll record should.
Their debut Hot Fuss sold over 4 million copies and in the process set The Killers up as one of the brightest young hopes of the modern era. On the eve of the release of their second album Sam’s Town, the band look like settling for nothing less than U2-sized supremacy. Now, if only Brandon Flowers would shave off that, ahem, controversial face fuzz.
Given that The Killers’ opening string of near classic singles, ‘When You Were Young’ is a bit of a shock at first, being apparently devoid of any kind of hook. Give it a few listens however, and its subtle charms start to reveal themselves. They haven’t messed with the format too much, but there is a noticeable toughening up of the sound and an almost Springsteen-esque epic rock feel. Not the best record of the fortnight, but certainly the biggest and potentially most intriguing.
How did Brandon Flowers, Ronnie Vannucci, Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer go from the Las Vegas dive bar circuit to selling four million copies of their debut album, Hot Fuss? On the eve of the band's highly-anticipated Oxegen 2005 appearance, Stuart Clark talks to the people involved in the making of The Killers.
They may be one of the hottest bands of the year, but Las Vegas synth fiends The Killers are planning to cool off this Christmas with some well-earned down-time and a skiing holiday in Utah. But not before they’ve discussed texting Charlize Theron, hanging with Elton John and that David Bowie tribute with Stuart Clark.
