the killers - are they killer?

Only in the hipster blogosphere.

Then they sounded like Shed 7. Not killer.

Although it is quite amusing to imagine a group of lads in Las Vegas being all "God, it sucks round here. It's just so, like, plastic. It's just for the tourists. I bet in YORK there are REAL people who have the coolest time. God, man, I wish we lived in York."

The Killers / Longwave / Stellastarr* = all US bands that plunder 80s epic Brit/ Irish big rock sound.

Cactus World News in the 80s were the masters of the big epic rock sound - these new bands fall way short of the blueprint.

U2
The Psychedelic Furs

They're American?!

i'm surprised they've managed to draw such polarising opinions from people. judging by their inoffensive style of music, i thought they would've been met largely with indifference or faint praise at best.

stephin meritt wrote an article for the new york times featuring them called "music that's oh so stupid yet oh so smart" and i think that description is in the ballpark.

The 1984 Midge Ure era (i.e. "One Small Day," etc.), even more sadly.

Oh, the album is well fine. Both my kids now go round singing "I've got a soul but I'm not a soldier" now. Which can only be a good thing.

The inclusion of the gospel choir in that song has to be the single most annoying thing I've heard all year.

No, wait, "Indie Rock & Roll" is.

The Killers bigger than Marion?
BRMC 'bigger' than JMC? (for a while)

Both bands are not undeserving, but are still 'lite' versions of the originals (although I don't know 'marion' enough to say they weren't 'lite')

They even beat early Marion stuff in my book, though I'm glad I'm not the only one who spotted the connection.

Global nuwave poprock, local media habits, my mom, me, & u

Hovering around 20 in the UK album charts is a drab pop-punky nu-wave band from Las Vegas named the Killers. . Apparently I need to crawl out from beneath the rock I live under, bcz I know this only bcz my mom sent me (as in: an envelope with a stamp on it, how quaint) (also, I was hoping it was a check) a clipping from the Des Moines Register’s style section from early July about them.

I grew up with the guitar player, Dave, in a small Iowa town. I wasn’t friends with him, but I knew him. He was quiet, and big into Smashing Pumpkins. You’d never know it from his current band but he could TOTALLY SHRED, too, such a shame. I went off to college and the last I heard he was jobbing in a Christian grunge band out of Newton. And now there he is with Strokes hair, a sportcoat, and tennis bracelets. They grow up so fast!

The online article has of course been ecto-trapped in the Register’s pay vaults, which is too bad, cos besides the obligatory local-boy-make-good angle I’d like for you all to see the hint of the contempt that the Des Moines media holds for Pella, the town I’m from. It’s not wholly accurate to describe Pella as an insular, conservative, religious community of Dutch Protestants, cos Dave and I are from there and are not that, but it’s fair enough. Pella is tacky and touristy as well (Register "critic" Kyle Munson sagely noted “omg, so is Vegas, weird!”), known state-wide for riding a theme-park version of its 19th cent. Dutch immigrant history to the bank every year. So poor nascent rockstar Dave had to answer eye-rollers like whether he’s ever worn wooden shoes and what his favorite pastries are. Well DUH of course he did; in grade school marching in the Tulip Time parades is MANDATORY. And Dave diplomatically mentions something from both the town’s bakeries, same as everyone else would. Don’t you media people know anything? More to the point, do you think that by broadcasting your dislike for this odd, churchy, nasty little burg you’ll somehow make living in fucking Des Moines any better? Get over it! (cue you: “yes geoff get over it”)

Now, if any other publication on earth had thought to ask a musician on his/her preferences in wooden footwear or pastry it would be a sorta-funny dadaist jab (and megawierd coincidence in Dave’s case, since he’d actually have an answer). But for the Register it’s just pro-forma and sad. See, I could win a Pulitzer or go to jail for planting an unsolicited kiss on Barack Obama (both are in the works, mind), and the Register would be on the phone asking a “Pella boy” about the klompen and the pofertjes.

Anyway I listened to a few clips on the Killers’ website and they suck. Good luck Dave!

Marion being an influence on anybody hurts my brain. And I don't even mind Marion much.

now that's funny.

having always found morrissey and merritt highly overrated i am pleased to hear of their being implicated in this horrible, horrible alterna-fiasco. it's hard for me to believe some of the praise isn't people joking around. this is probably the worst shit i have ever heard in my life and i'm not kidding.
the way he says "potential" or whatever in that video is full-on fucking hilarious.

Oftentimes, I'm willing to forgive otherwise dreadful ticks in songs that make me tap my foot without thinking about it. Let go of your anger!

as another Dutch Protestant from the Southwest i'm afraid it simply will not be possible in this case. this is a transparent masquerade of a band, and though seeded in probably legitimate desperation, i will not personally be able get past the basic (and super-unsuccessful) ludicrousness of the approach.
i bet i like tons of stuff it will otherwise get lumped in with, but that always happens.
hey i also did happen to mention it's very, very funny... and meant it.

Yes, isn't that peculiar? I've got several examples of this sort of thing happening to myself, but can't explain why.

i have to write about these guys this weekend. they're okay. they get played a lot at work. they stike me as the manifestation of a cardinal music industry rule.

the first the Killers NME front cover

p.s. "somebody told me" reeks of suck.

on the More In The Monitor blog they pointed out that the guys don't move around much live. Disappointing, as I was hoping they did more Duran-style sashay-age or something.

Two years ago, I thought that KRMTX "Ice Hatchets" single was really good. I just put it on recently, though, and thought, "What's the point?" I realize that they have a "darker" aesthetic, but there's nothing musically present in KRMTX that sets them apart from, say, Franz Ferdinand. And Franz Ferdinand write better songs, play better, have a better sound, and have a singer that you can actually hear/understand. The thing is, I think, that some of youse think that the new crop of successful and popular nu wavers are dumbing something down. So, what, Franz Ferdinand are dumbing down the Chromatics? The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are dumbing down Glass Candy and the Shattered Theater? The Killers are dumbing down Gogogoairheart? Now, maybe youse guys aren't really into the Chromatics, Glass Candy and the Shattered Theater, and Gogogoairheart, but I'd guess that you don't feel so vehemently opposed to them as you do to the Killers and Frank Ferdinand.

My point is that THERE WAS NOTHING TO DUMB DOWN IN THAT MUSIC IN THE FIRST PLACE. There is no CONTENT in the music of those bands that is missing in bands like the Killers or Franz Ferdinand. In fact, a band like the Killers seem to be GOOFING on the lack of content in this genre with their ridiculous lyrics and the guy's ridiculous singing (which is what I was getting at with that "Believe Me, Natalie" thread).

Also: it's only "fucking Dawson's Creek music" because these bands have better production value.

PEACE-OUT!

T.

-- Tim Ellison (timejeanne...), January 10th, 2005.

xpost

I simply can't believe that even indie critics would accept this sub teen movie crap as something good, and beyond good, as something cool!!!!!

Do people have any standards whatsoever?

Sounds good to me.

The problem with The Killers is that they take all that was annoying about Placebo and nothing that was good (ie, the first two albums).

The Killers totally sound like early Placebo, when they were in NME rather than Kerrang.

Is this what I have to expect for the next seven years of my life?

I am going to use this judging system for every single "[insert new rock band that sounds vaguely like '70s/'80s/'90s Britpop band] sucks" thread from here on in.

FUCKING CLASSIC.

Because if anyone, who had never been outside their own country, presumably, was talking about other countries in a hugely generalised manner and throwing out bilious and random criticisms aimed at people from that country on threads where a great deal of the posters are not in fact British, well then that person would be a fucking insular prejudiced idiot at a time when those idiots are running the world.

I'm sure you're not doing this though are you

More about the video; it's poorly spaced and under casted, badly shot esp. considering it's Moulin Rouged out; to make things worse, what's-his-name the lead singer can't even pretend to mime the words like he gives a flying fuck -- and it's one thing to be young and bored, but you're trying to sell the song...

Sarcasm aside, no I'm not doing that. I'm just sick of the predictable "done before and better feh poo blah" attitude that permeates Every. Single. Thread. about any nu-rock band that commits the unpardonable sin of, you know, using guitars. I'm also sick of the sweeping condemnation of said bands sucking for no discernible reason than these people care to explain other than "they exist" and "it was done better by some band nobody cares about anymore". And I'm sick of the "hipster" strawman being delivered by people more provincial and snobbish than any hipster I've ever met.

If it makes you feel better, Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous is my favorite late '70s rock album right now. Feel that voib, whydon't'cha.

Also, who wants to see Scarlett Johanssen dressed as a man?

The lyrics are bizarro.

But, on the other hand, we have the absolutely dreadful track "Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll"...at least it does exactly what it says on the tin - the song is every bit as dire as the title would suggest! It is songs like that where I fear for the bands' future - will they sound exactly like the Stereophonics on the second album? The likes of "Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll" make me tremble at the possibility.

You should have been culturally sensitive and said "Out come the teapots, wot wot!"

AND THE ANSWER IS YES IT DOES, BECAUSE THE TEENAGERS KNOW. EVEN IF YOU DON'T. AND TEENAGERS RULE THE WORLD.

Brandon's vox are so varied on the album - ok, so he sounds just like Le Bon on "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine", but on "Mr Brightside" he starts by sounding just like the person who sings on Underworld's "Born Slippy" only to transmogrify into Midge Ure. Which does beg the question - should we applaud him for his vocal range and ability to adopt different styles of singing, or criticize him for cynically trying to win over ppl who have fond memories of those records of the past?

Do you think they really have potential for Boy Band status? That would be awesome if they did.

http://www.parachromatic.com/bFlowers11.jpg

from Ultragrrrl's blog.

"Has anyone seen the new video for the Killers' "Mr. Brightside"? I have a totally abstract crush on Brandon Flowers, but when I see that video, that abstract crush is a totally full-on crush and my vagina explodes. When I told him this, which i did cause I've got no shame, he was blown away from that term and asked if that was a good thing. Yes, it's a good thing. H-E-A-R-T-T-H-R-O-B."

Actually, chances are very good it *was* Brandon -- the guy looked pretty much exactly like the Brandon still up above from the "Mr. Brightside" video, and he himself vouched for the fact that he attended at least one of the Vegas concerts during the Pop Trash tour, so, um, yeah.

I was just using The Hives as an example because, to the best of my knowledge, it's the most recent example of radio ignoring the first single off the follow-up record. I could have said "My Favourite Game" by The Cardigans I guess..

This an several other mind stealing incidents this weekend have left me paranoid.

http://www.insectstings.co.uk/images/honeycombbees.jpg

Is anyone else watching SNL right now?

"Human" was bad enough, but WTF is this second song? Is it about mad scientists or alien abduction or something?

Also, I never realized it until now with these big Jim Steinman-type productions, but Brandon Flowers sounds a lot like Meatloaf.

i really like "human"

probably their worst lyrics ever but they can crank out epic 80s songs like this no problem

i like every single one of their singles a lot though

i thought they were pretty good. he is pretty entertaining. not as good as mark wahlberg talks to animals, though.

I like Mr. Brightside and When You Were Young just fine, but that's about it.

And generally, I'm not one to pay close attention to lyrics. But when they're so bad that I actually notice how bad they are, it's hard to ignore.

The Killers are awesomeeee, and I like "Human," too. Sad I missed SNL tonight.

But I watched Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, so it's ok.

i like every single one of their singles a lot though

^ That. Also B. Flowers is v v dreamy.

^ that

omg, i never really looked at him until this snl performance

REALLY!? How could you not? He's seriously beautiful.

#1 rock star crush in high school

he was cuter pre-bad facial hair but yeah

tru!

his face is a masterpiece! :)

Handsome dude with atrocious taste in jackets.

Hey - come to chatz! Surprisingly there are still a couple of us there.

Brandon Flowers is, I suppose, pretty handsome. I like a few of their singles a lot, When You Were Young and Read My Mind, also smile like you mean it.

This is one of those bands which I don't find bad but don't find very good either. A couple of memorable singles, a batch of annoying ones (what's the name of the one that sounds like a gay parade? I'm not a soldier? I seriously hate that one)... I find it hard to excuse their musical existence past 'hot fuss'.

I'm not a huge fan but have enjoyed scattered moments of their back catalogue - Jenny, All Things I've Done, Reasons Unknown.

Why I'm more interested in the new 'un though is the presence of Stuart Price, who is producing the new album and has been responsible for jaw droppingly good remixes of Mr Brightside and When You Were Young.

Human has possibly the worst lyrics ever in a Killers song but it also has all the hallmarks of a great Thin White Duke production.

Whether he can repeat that trick 10 times for an album remains to be scene but it at least means I'm more interested in the new one than I would be.

Human has possibly the worst lyrics ever in a Killers song but it also has all the hallmarks of a great Thin White Duke production.

And atrocious lyrics are hallmarks of the real Thin White Duke's songs too!

One of their singles has made my year-end singles list since 2005 (last year's Pet Shop Boys remix of "Read My Mind" may be my favorite), even though their albums are overblown. I haven't heard "Human" yet.

the lyrics don't bother me at all. and i think that performance was totally engaging.

Someone please to post pics of Brandon on SNL plz okthxbye

If he worked out a bit more and lost the bland roundness of his face, he'd be hawt.

Are we human or are we dancer? WHAT?

Tune's not terrible though.

is he supposed to be saying "denser"?

Danza.

I know! I was watching this, wondering if he just forgot the "s" the first time, but no. "Are we human, or are we dancer", singular, for the entire song. I've defended their horrible lyrics in the past, but uh, not this time. Wow. I liked the second song much better.

'Are we human or are we dancers' wouldn't be a vast improvement, seeing as you have to be human to be a dancer (unless there's some kind of monkey that dances).

I'd have thought Flowers would be sporting some pretentious facial hair by now, but overall the band has exactly the correct amount of hair to indicate they're ready for album #3. Love the Brian May look.

Let's not ask for too much from Flowers' lyric-writing. Still, I think "dancers" would make the awkward lyric less blindingly obvious. The shitty lyrics on "Mr. Brightside" were easy enough to ignore if you wanted.

(x-post)

I love the single. The treated guitar arpeggio is a great hook.

Does this obviously sound like JLC produced it?

If he didn't, it draws heavily from his "Mr Brightside" remix.

it's "denser"

Don't see any problem with the roundness of his face above, it just looks hawt. Though working out a bit rarely hurt anyone.

I interpret the chorus lyric as: "Are we 'Human' or are we 'Dancer'?"

Which i imagine tells the story of a community of robots trying to determine what their current functional settings are.

Which doesn't make it less ridiculous, but does it make it kinda scan.

Pretty good song anyways.

This song is waiting for the right remix for liftoff.

i love his salute. he's an intense frontman in this performance.

i'm always on the verge of liking this band but something is always wrong. their songs are kind of shapeless. i agree that he's a great frontman, tho

He's so awkward. They're so awkward. Every song, even the ones I like, teeters on the edge of collapse as a result of a misplaced guitar riff or Flowers' pinched vocals. To me it's endearing; they're trying hard to combine the daftness of "Hold Back the Rain"-"New Religion"-era Duran Duran with a glossy mirrorball pulse.

I still stand by my "new wave Meatloaf" comparison.

is there gravy on this New Wave meatloaf?

I kind of agree with Alfred on a musical level: there's something slightly off-sounding about even their best works (probably my favourite of their originals is "When You Were Young" and even that doesn't escape this, it's just too powerful to deny).

A small part of the magic of JLC's remix of "Mr. Brightside" lies in how it calmly fixes everything, not just about that song, but about the band itself. JLC's that realtor who comes in and straightens the mirror and the paintings before casually declaring the place open for inspection.

I have hopes for the new album but it's checked by the fact that these will still be "originals". It's difficult to imagine it coming out sounding as pre-remixed as the best stuff on Confessions on a Dancefloor.

x-post

Not yet, but I give them one more album before they do something like "I'd Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)".

Somebody Told Me is their best song.

Got a feeling JLC might actually do a better job with the Keane album because he'll be less constrained by the band themselves.

the keane album sounds like the killers.

LC's that realtor who comes in and straightens the mirror and the paintings before casually declaring the place open for inspection.

He also polished the brass, installed new fixtures and a pedestal sink, replaced the wall unit A/C with central air, and serves the wine in stemless glasses.

i want it to be "denser" but i still think it's "dancer" which he rhymes with "answer"

http://intensities.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/omgwtflol-the-killers-human-2008/

We're sorry this video is no longer available x 2

This is actually pretty great. It's got a sleekness they've never really had, the surfaces are shinier and the melody has a great way of glancing off the chord changes.

http://cdn.stereogum.com/img/killers-press08.jpg

what is with all the fur with this band

it's that dude on the right that's a fucking choad.

No, the drummer is the choad. The drawback to watching SNL in HD? Having that Jason Lee looking mook making his ridiculous faces in plain view.

I like almost anything by the Killers, but this new song comes across flat and insincere. I don't really want to see them go in this dancey direction, either. And yeah "Are we human or are we dancer"? Yikes, it's hard to get past the outright rongness of that lyric.

As for Brandon, he isn't really all that hawt after all. I couldn't remember what he looked like until now.

The singer from the Killers looks like a miniature Ben Affleck.

I just noticed this.

that picture up above is affecting my brain. it's like people from 3 different bands - none of them particularly good - just put together.

i love the red pants though. he obv knows that whatever gets people to instantly look at his crotch = good for the band

I think one of these dudes who isn't the singer has some side project thing called Big Talk and I think I'm enjoying it. Strangely enough, the production makes it sound exactly like The Killers.

lolla: http://bit.ly/13CgCgq

They're back! Except, they're not.

https://www.alternativenation.net/the-killers-guitarist-backs-out-of-tour/

it's all the rage

https://image-ticketfly.imgix.net/00/02/11/96/99-og.jpg

Hahah is that really their current lineup. What the hell.

i know right..

How are we feeling about the new one? I loved the singles but it's sounding a little thin to me at the moment.

Well, I caught them playing one of their new tracks on BBC Four last night and thought it sucked.

The singles really grew on me. Production seems kind of oppressive but all of their albums kind of grow on me. Flowers last solo record was pretty immediate and classic imo though.

Flowers seems to be looking the best he ever has been since ever.

new one's weird but then again i hated battle born the first time i heard it and now it's my favorite killers record

Fans of the I Love AFL board will be excited about them playing at the AFL Grand Final.

It sounds orright, btw.

Flowers seems to be looking the best he ever has been since ever.

― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Sunday, September 24, 2017 1:35 AM

Dangerously so.

they is written about

https://www.spin.com/featured/killers-wonderful-wonderful-cover-story-sept-2017/

fuckin Mormon

Are we killer or are we dancer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtF7_oZ65bw

featuring lindsey buckingham

instantly one of their best songs ever?????

fuuuuuck

simon!!!!!

listening now. KD lang and Weyes Blood and Blake Mills are slso on this album?!

*also lol

and yes this rules

i know he's credited with the solo but those quick acoustic strums in the chorus are soooo lindsey

nothing against Johnny Marr but I wish the Manics were the North American openers :( I'd consider going, assuming gigs start happening again by...October

i have listened to this six times in a row

also the lyrics are ABSOLUTE NONSENSE never change brandon flowers

fond memories of playing "Spaceman" for a songwriter friend of mine and asking her to interpret the lyrics, by the end we were almost teary with laughter

I had fun assembling this lil reverse chronological all-deep-cuts playlist for ppl who only know them as a (mostly pretty great) singles act

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4QuvM3HibuCLu9etFakXrE?si=ZMTSGlDYTASXBnvnsZBhTg

Yes!! That wee guitar strum sounds like She Sells Sanctuary

oh my god this song lmao

i love it when this ridiculous band hits the mark so well, this is one of their best

Simon you forgot “Spaceship Adventure” from Yo Gabba Gabba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nx24VAjK6Q

shaping up to be the best killers record

lol that sleeve

this rules and the production is the best they've ever sounded. hope they can keep it up for the rest of the album even though they've never managed much consistency before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE7jCzWwbxw

three for three!

this is gonna be their best album????????

also alert imago i guess because weyes blood has a writing credit on one of the album tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-2jJq7Z7Qs

this is absolutely going to be their best album by a fair way

It is.

have you got a review copy? i'm glad to hear the singles aren't a fluke then

Yep. They're as ridiculous as ever but more consistent about it.

this album is so good! the start of "lightning fields" is so blue nile which i didn't expect at all. all the arrangements are so rich

it's just bizarre they a released an album so clearly their best at this point in their career, a fair way past their commercial peak. like, who does that?

it's good!

alfred as usual that is one hell of a review

thank you!

I was driving around and heard a very Springsteen-y song and it turned out to be a Killers track. I figured it was from the album where they went all Springsteen-y (Sam's Town? Is that a Killers album?), but unless I misheard it was new, so I guess they went all Springsteen-y again?

Anyway, I'm intrigued. The Killers are one of those bands (like, I dunno, Death Cab for Cutie) that have always released singles I'm happy to hear but no albums I want to listen to. But Pet Shop Boys meets Bruce Springsteen is a pretty unbeatable combination in the JiC household.

i don't think they ever really stopped being springsteen-y once they started, but they're certainly better than ever at that on this album

this is the first time they've made a record that's all killer no filler and it's not just that it's more consistent, the arrangements are so much richer than anything they've done before.

Also sounds a whole lot like Future Islands (shared influences I'm sure, but still).

This is the first time that the Killers have sounded listenable to me.

this album is Ridiculous

If I had a record store I would have a section that says "Ridiculous." And then when someone asks for a band like the Killers or Blue Oyster Cult (for example) I would say, oh, they're over there, under "Ridiculous."

otm

there's a total blue nile thing happening in "lightning fields"

oh yeah ufo mentioned it upthread lol

at 3:19 in lightening fields, the song time-travels to a mid '90s alt-rock radio station.

fire and bone is talking heads but david byrne is less of a dick

pls somebody remix 'my god' with erasure's 'always'

listened to a bit, I hear quite a bit of the last The War on Drugs album, the synth Springsteen action

pls somebody remix 'my god' with erasure's 'always'

"always I wanna be with my god and make believe with my god and live in harmony, harmony, oh love!"

has a certain ring to it

A couple of songs on this sound like the War On Drugs if dude were shameless instead of shy.

Also, giving this album more attention right now, I think the title track kind of sucks.

for some reason I just....can't, with this one, at least not today

it's very impressive and i expect to love it eventually but i was feeling similarly

it's like they finally completed the killers mentaculus by locating all the correct/desired references but they're TOO in love with them to keep me immersed, or something like that

hmmm

i don't think the last four tracks are quite as good as the first six but it's all good-to-great

not that i want to do this, but I mean what the heck does the title even mean? a mirage ain't nothing but illusion, so is imploding a mirage supposed to mean collapsing a nothing back into a nothing?

seems like something a stoned 14-year old with a thesaurus would come up with when trying to generate a profundity? actually, yes, that is probably what the title is supposed to mean because 'stoned 14-year old with a thesaurus trying to generate profundity' is a explanation of this album.

alternatives title ideas: anti-hologram, phenomenology of nothing

the mirage is a casino in las vegas. casinos are often demolished through implosion cf. the aladdin

i mean they probably are also gesturing at some metaphysical meaning but it really only makes sense literally

i saw an interview where flowers explained that it's a metaphor for his move away from las vegas but also the main theme of the album is something about helping his wife with her struggles with ptsd

this is the guy who gave us "are we human or are we dancer" so im honestly not looking for a lot of meaning

he also said in that interview that they've already made major progress on their next album while in quarantine

y'all

we're debating Killers lyrics and intentions

Anyway, these are the songs I'd keep.

Nice review!

The Desired Effect is such an overlooked album

it was the first properly good brandon flowers album, this one's the second

"dying breed" does the krautrock springsteen thing better than any war on drugs song. i do kinda wish "lightning fields" stuck with its blue nile first minute instead of turning into a joshua tree-era u2 song. the end result is still good but what could have been!

It won't be long before "My God" become my favorite Killers song; that is, if "Running Toward a Place" doesn't catch up.

it was the first properly good brandon flowers album, this one's the second

― ufo

I was just going to ask about this. I've never really liked much for the band at all but The Desired Effect was brilliant. I listened to the last album hoping it would be more of the same but it didn't do anything for me. I guess I'll have to give this one a go.

this album doesn't really have the same synth-dominated sound as the desired effect but it's another album of brandon flowers at his best so if you liked that one i'd expect there's probably a lot to like here too

https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-killers-to-release-another-new-album-in-2021-it-might-be-better-than-this-one-2735596

it's cool they're working with the same producers for their next album, they really seemed to have made a difference for this one so i'm looking forward to more

this album is very produced by jeff lynne without having been produced by jeff lynne

Lynne in 1990

oh yeah that's what i meant

i like this album quite a bit but can't really get into either of the side enders ("lightning fields," title track) yet. "dying breed," "caution," "fire in bone," "running towards a place," "when the dreams run dry"... all pretty staggering

Somehow Big Arena Rock and Roll finally coming down to a semi-self-tortured Mormon who can't decide what to do with himself in creeping middle age is a little too on the nose for mainstream America's self image as a whole, really.

I mean it doesn't not sound like recent Foxygen

(from what I half remember)

some thoughts

1. this is the first Killers album i can enjoy without embarrassment
2. this is the best Killers album because it just sounds like the really good Brandon Flowers solo lp
3. they are covering more bases than the dnc with these guests here - and covering Neu! and Can in one song? come on guys - but then i'm pleased Mr Rother gets some royalty cash
4. they're best when they're not being subtle about who they're cribbing from
5. jonathan rado continues to prove himself to be grrrreat
6. given whose sound it's cribbing, calling that song Running Towards A Place is ON THE NOSE GUYS
7. the Triffids / Big Country / U2 / Tears For Fears bits are better than the attempted springsteen bits
8. they still need to remove the anthemic wannabe gospel sections
9. if you'd told me that from the class of 2001ish, in 2020 i'd be enjoying the Killers more than any semi-recent work from The Strokes, Interpol and the rest of the gang, i would have been fairly surprised
10. i've had a lot of coffee but probably stand by all of the above

11. not sure how it's possible to have consistently terrible lyrics but good songwriting... but he seems to succeed on every track here

Don’t listen to the lyrics baby we’re a dying breeeeeed

12. if you folks fancy more semi anthemic springsteen-ish business (feat Brandon + Rado), that last Alex Cameron LP may be your bag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmlEM--lmdo

they are covering more bases than the dnc with these guests here - and covering Neu! and Can in one song?

I'm relieved I wasn't crazy when I pointed out in my review that I heard "Moonshake."

( i meant sampling obviously - not covering )

Assuming they did sample and not just copy, the audacity of doing so with both Can and Neu! on the same track is something, and perhaps one of the most unexpected places to hear that since the Kanye West album that sampled Can.

the credited samples on "dying breed" are "moonshake" and "hallogallo", i think they might have layered the motorik beats from both?

9. if you'd told me that from the class of 2001ish, in 2020 i'd be enjoying the Killers more than any semi-recent work from The Strokes, Interpol and the rest of the gang, i would have been fairly surprised

yeah it's bizarre, the last good album before this by any of those sort of bands was comedown machine. really never would have expected they'd have an album as good as this in them

Never been a fan beyond their first two singles, but I gave this a spin because of all the talk. It was OK but honestly the title track was the only thing that made me look up. And I guess people who like the album don't like the title track? To me it's a kind of perfect '80s movie soundtrack pastiche, like Bryan Adams singing with Tom Tom Club or something.

I saw the Killers at Bonnaroo a few years ago, they put on a good show and the crowd was definitely into it — I was honestly kind of surprised how many songs most people seemed to know. Brandon Flowers is such a weird presence. He totally had star quality on stage, but it was more like late-night talk-show host star quality than rock star quality.

I saw them open for Morrissey in a small club, shortly after the debut was picking up steam. The only thing I remember about it was one of the Killers' amps bursting into flame.

I love the title track.

It definitely jumped out at me as significantly different enough in tone or approach or whatever that I was glad to discover it was the last track. Like, I dunno, "Love Makes the World Go Round" on "True Blue" or something. Or sonically akin to Ric Ocasek writing for Broadway.

Feels like it really hits its '80s stride with "Lightning Fields." "Fire In Bone" mines the same nebulous Rorschach references as the 1975, imo (is that Wang Chung I'm supposed to think of? because that's what I'm hearing tonight.)

And yeah, as far as anthemic camp goes, "My God" is the best, and probably would have made a good final track, because how do you beat that?

Probably the first Killers album I've enjoyed all of, though I think Battle Born came close

Can't wait for the remix album (Imploding the Bellagio) and deluxe edition (Imploding Luxor)

I knew these fuckers would eventually cover it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHn_wrST3_Q

oh god i could kiss them

this is so good!!
actual studio performance vid here

https://youtu.be/ey_j7-wIo4U

holy shit, no shame

In a good way!

Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey_j7-wIo4U

I watched this clip 10 times before bed.

sigh, so excellent

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJHbOJOlp-9/

that new album they were talking about might be on its way even sooner than expected?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y020G_d8QHU

new song, an Imploding the Mirage outtake. it's pretty good and interestingly off-kilter for them. really lovely arrangement too

"there's dignity in calloused hands" lol this guy.

they had me up until the gospel choir

I am loving this album. They are best when they embrace anthemic ridiculousness <3

OTM. Though for me it falls in a strange void, great while I'm listening to it but not great enough that I'm actually going to listen to it. I should tell people in my house just to put it on occasionally.

i put some more jameson into my carcass and then posted this to the youtube electic blue cover comments. i think i'm pretty otm:

why is this awesome? it's awesome because it's true. brandon earned that smile at the end. there are more obscure songs to choose which could have shown his taste and erudition concerning forgotten culture and more obvious songs that SCREAMED i'm so 80s in a way that is still in the water today but this is the sweet spot - this is what the airwaves were like at the time. what, brandon was six when this came out?

icehouse fans, don't get me wrong, i'm not saying this is lesser 80s bobka. by way of example, on my computer, inxs' don't change shows up per algorithm on my screen. that's a great 80s song, also one of the best songs of all time. actually the greatest song of all time. brandon should cover that. it should be a constitutional amendment that brandon should cover that. however, anyone knows the greatness of don't change. electric blue, and go with me on this, some people weren't there at the time. or else they forgot. brandon has the genius to know, he knows.

what i'm saying, is some things are great because they are timeless, but timelessness loses out in the end because it belongs to everyone and to all times. this is so of its time, and we are edified when someone brings that time back into the light. thank you brandon for being that light.

a bit effusive, but i stand by my sentiment. duchamp says something something something abt an artist pointing at something and whatever. this was a great thing. it's a great thing.

brandon flowers is a cool dork. thrre are nerds, and geeks, but those are defined by their mastery. dorks are enthusiasts, they love love love things. the strokes were music nerds, they killers were music dorks. all hail the dorks.

it's like a duchamp readymade, the purest distillation of a readymade in the history of art. there it is, the thing. lookit. lookit the thing, it's awesome. did you lookit before? no, but lookit.

are you hiding, somewhere behind those eyes

goddam, that's so sweet and innocent. the best and most overlooked lyric in pop. bam! there it is. brandon delivers it like it was nothing.

also, heart emoticon to alfred, indisputably the greatest 80s stan in the known universe.

long story short: this caught my attention and i reacted favorably.

also it just occurred to me to look up don't change and the killers so there it is. did the best person in the world, brandon flowers, cover the best song in the world, don't change? it's as obvious as, randomly for example, i wondered if the best person in the world, kermit the frog, also covered the best song in the world, once in a lifetime. yes, they did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAqcpc4e6hU

The Youth have reclaimed and repurposed them:

I can’t believe I’m old enough to see younger ppl romanticize my teen years pic.twitter.com/SGCOSkFS1t

— 𝓇𝑜𝓈𝒶♡𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓁 (@artetriste) March 8, 2021

"mr. brightside" is a deathless song

kind of incredible

It kinda hit me last night that's almost a "Louie Louie" of the 21st century.

that bruce version is very very declarative. list of current objectives: 1) don't change! now dammit!

i drunkendly went overboard with the effusiveness but brandon flowers is so my kind of people, it seems. i'm looking at the yuotubes, he also covers the whole of the moon and this charming man! what a fudging dork! right now i'm watching the glastonbury 2019 clip of the killers with pet shop boys always on my mind and brandon totally disappears. it's all psb, and as picasso says, good artists borrow, great artists steal, the greatestest artists just lay the eff back and let your referring to things happen as it happens and there it is as it always was.

mr brightside is like the torah: it's the essence of g dash d made visceral. what else is there from and of the aughts other than maps or hey ya! or maybe mgmt's kids that blows away all vestiges of temporal continuity and is of that time and that time alone? it's always mr brightside time, when mr brightside is playing.

brandon flowers inducted the cars into the r and r hall hall of fame and why not? what do any of rick's lyrics mean other than themselves? nothing. what do any of brandon's lyrics mean other than themselves? nothing. therein lies the essence of zen. banal relationship nothings, so beautiful, so forever.

also accepted: kelly clarkson since u been gone as the purest quintessence of aughtness, but that's it.

also, brandon flowers is equaled only by john bongiovi as the smilingest rock star in history, and that's high praise. smile on, you glorious bastard!

So this newest/latest Killers track (at least I think it's newish?) ... just what is it it's reminding me of? Johnny Nash? Roxy Music?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y020G_d8QHU

Robbie Nevil?

That's just the way it goes.

I can see this being Mr. Flowers's final form.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlucGdeT37E

Every time I hear the song I think of Robbie Nevile, even if I don't hear it.

or Aaron Neville

idk what "c'est la vie" is reminiscent of but i love it

I guess it sounds a little bit like TH's "Don't Worry About the Government", something like that? Kind of like I referenced in the Beatles thread re: ELO, there's so much there that eventually you can hear almost anything you want to hear. I mean, when your latest album features explicit references to both Springsteen and Can, the sky's the limit, you know?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CP9NS6EB3r2/

lol they've managed to get springsteen for their new single

very excited, imploding the mirage only got better and better for me so i hope this album will be just as good

oh it's just a reworked version of day & age track "a dustland fairytale" with springsteen? why that of all things now i wanna hear the new album lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3BZ8hnLyRc

here's "dustland" with springsteen

album is planned for august, no idea if that'll be on it

album pressure machine out august 13, same producers as imploding the mirage so i'm very excited

!!!!

this is good news.

wow

it feels like exploding the mirage just came out
but time moves v slowly for me lol

nice. i'm digging how some artists have been dropping albums more quickly as of late.

this one is a quarantine album they made because they had ideas leftover after finishing imploding the mirage & they couldn't tour. they've apparently started work on another one already too

praise be

Gonna be wild when all these acts tour for the first time in years behind three albums.

So I idly saw they had a presale going for next summer's stop here, I checked and literal back of the house final row tickets were perfectly acceptably cheap so I guess I'm going to see these characters, much to my surprise. I just want to see what an actual 21st century rock band that made an arena-level career out of it that actually lasted said whole century so far is all about live, I guess.

lol ned i thought you couldnt stand them
softening over the years i guess

Perhaps! It was never a deep loathing, more like a ‘wait what?’ Brandon’s messianism is actually enjoyably ridiculous now.

I feel the same

i don't think anyone would have expected that they'd have the most longevity out of their whole wave of bands, or that they'd end up putting out their best album 16 years after their debut

It feels like it took several years for people (ok, me) to recognize the band's (Brandon's?) ridiculousness as a feature and not a bug. He seems to have figured it out a lot better than Bono ever did, balancing camp and pretentious grandiosity in a more convincing manner.

Helping Flowers' case immensely is that he doesn't read, or at least doesn't drop book titles in interviews

Ignorance is bliss.

i have inadvertently read some of the lyrics for the new album, and hoo boy

think it's gonna work tho

all their lyrics are hoo boy

lol seriously, if the lyrics were a barrier to entry i would have given up at the debut

My wife and I are rewatching The OC and just saw the episode where they played The Bait Shop (their very own Peach Pit!), Flowers looked so young!

from said episode:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMC1KbvWkAAKnhl.jpg

lol he looks 12 years old!

flowers has an unparalleled ability to completely sell utter nonsense so i'm not worried

yes this is 100% otm

Helping Flowers' case immensely is that he doesn't read, or at least doesn't drop book titles in interviews

― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, July 23, 2021 6:04 AM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

“When I was writing these songs, I was thinking of things like Sherwood Anderson’s book Winesburg, Ohio or that book Pastures of Heaven [by John Steinbeck],” Flowers says, “where’s it’s all these short stories that take place in this one setting. For some reason, I had the audacity to try it myself. Once I realized they were going to take place here and they were going to be true stories, everything just really fell in our laps.”

weirdly a slightly early version of this has leaked - it's missing the spoken intros they mentioned in interviews were added at the last minute.

as they've suggested from all the interviews they've gone in a more folk-rock direction for this one but the arrangements are just as lush and lovely as the last album. apparently the follow-up that's already in the works is shaping up to be a more direct continuation of imploding the mirage though, so i'm looking forward to that too.

“When I was writing these songs, I was thinking of things like Sherwood Anderson’s book Winesburg, Ohio or that book Pastures of Heaven [by John Steinbeck],” Flowers says, “where’s it’s all these short stories that take place in this one setting. For some reason, I had the audacity to try it myself. Once I realized they were going to take place here and they were going to be true stories, everything just really fell in our laps.”

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Tuesday, August 3, 2021

dear god in heaven Flower Boy's thinking of narrative.

Just wait for his first full novel, And The Dude Saw The Sky

Enjoy some rock

Stream @TheKillers' new album 'Pressure Machine' featuring a song with @Phoebe_Bridgers https://t.co/LiQqxQW22Q pic.twitter.com/PGOY1YxJqJ

— Stereogum (@stereogum) August 13, 2021

i don't think flowers' new found focus on narrative really does anything at all for this album but it's solidly their second best behind the last, just for consistency & the strength of the arrangements

Wow at this album. This is basically the electric "Nebraska" Springsteen never brought to fruition, updated for the times. Drugs, withering small town alienation, losing your religion, etc. I have no idea who listens to the Killers, but I wonder what they'll make of this.

Me, I find it astounding and galvanizing that a band I'd been indifferent to for most of their career should release an album I've really liked two years in a row.

(Not saying this is nearly as good as "Nebraska," I should stress - that's a unique masterpiece of a one-off - but this album is some heavy stuff, at least to my ears, however on the nose so much of it is.)

it really seems that having producers who can help them to really flesh out their arrangements has made a huge difference

this album is awesome, i love "cody" so much

astonished that flowers' attempts to get into granular storytelling do not weigh this album down one bit (not that he's ditched the broad, bombastic thing, those eagles still have "glory-painted wings")

also think this is better than imploding the mirage :O

I'm not ready to deliver a judgment, but there are moments like "Terrible Thing" where the Nebraska tropes -- the echo, perfectly arranged harmonica -- try to deepen narratives that don't exist except as Springsteeisms.

Every predictable image is so damn perfectly paced.

Holy shit, yeah, this is fantastic. Even better than I'd hoped and definitely even better than Mirage. So many great moments - really digging "Cody", "In the Car Outside" and "Runaway Horses" most on first blush, but it's all pretty great.

the obvious springsteen songs i can easily lose as they do nothing more than springsteen did, the upbeat Triffids/Big Country stuff is great.

Triffids/Big Country stuff is great.

Which songs were these?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWdeRkr6dLs

decent single

Enjoying this but boy, that's a blatant Erasure riff they drop in

gosh yeah.
given the bronski beat riff that brandon used for his solo debut,
and now this,
i think it's clear that he/the band just need to go the whole hog and make an 80s synth album to get it out of their system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-JdPeMQoAU

seems like they are indeed making an 80s synth album. this one's a pretty good new order pastiche, just with heavy autotune for whatever reason

Do these guys do anything original?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH2P73cwZMk

lol they made a "born slippy .nuxx"

Too bad they don´t do ipod ads anymore, this would have been a no-brainer for that

Too bad they don´t do ipod ads anymore, this would have been a no-brainer for that

Heard a Christmas song while I was shopping that sounded like someone parodying very early Springsteen, and was curious enough to look it up. Of course it turns out to be the Killers, "A Great Big Sled."