Written Before Listen
I feel like a lot of people who follow this account know who The Killers are. They are one of the most successful rock bands of the early 2000s and they were pretty influential in the revival of Post-Punk, making it poppy in a similar way that New Order did. I like some of their songs but I was never interested in them to the point that I wanted to check out an album of theirs, but since they just released one, I thought it would be a great time to finally listen to one of their albums. With that being said, let’s get into it
Influences
When I jumped into this album, I thought I would get a lot of New Wave influence and a lot of Pop Rock, I was wrong. This is not the Killers that I thought I would hear on this album. It’s very reminiscent of Singer/Songwriter music and Heartland music. Surely there is a little bit of Tom Petty, a little bit of Leonard Cohen and Cat Stevens but this album is mainly inspired by one singular artist…Bruce Springsteen. It’s not just like one era of Bruce Springsteen either. Songs like “Quiet Town”, “Sleepwalker” and “In Another Life” show a more Born In The USA style Springsteen, and songs like “Runaway Horses” and “The Getting By” show the folkier side of The Boss. I think this album is more than a tad bit derivative. The Springsteen worship is obvious here.
Concept
Luckily, The Killers’ digging into the Springsteen influence isn’t a major problem. The reason for that is that the sound of the music isn’t the main focus of the album. This is a concept album. For me, this is good practice as a reviewer and a music listener. Surely with albums like “Sinner Get Ready” and “Scaled And Icy” where there is a thematic focus, but nothing as strong as this. Brandon doesn’t study up on anything either, he just talks about what he knows, his hometown. It’s not like a narrative concept, but every track is focused on the stories and thoughts that Brandon discovered during his upbringing. There are introspective tracks like “Pressure Machine” and “West Hills” but there are also storytelling tracks like “Terrible Thing” and “Desperate Things”. While giving this album multiple listens, it certainly grew on me. Personally, the music itself isn’t super strong, but the concept is.
Interviews
When it comes to this album, the concept is clear with its lyrics and storytelling, but I’m certain that Brandon Flowers wanted everyone to know that this album is a concept. 80% of these songs start with some sort of interview clip. After doing research, the producer of the album went to Brandon’s hometown and interviewed certain people about their town experiences. I like the interview additions. It brings a lot more personality to this album. I don’t think any of the interviews are extremely powerful or anything but I do think they add a lot to the album.
Artistic Evolution
This is not from a perspective from a person who is heavily into the Killers, this is from a person who only knew their biggest hits from 2004. What I will say is that everything I heard from The Killers was very similar to each other. It was Post-Punk inspired Pop Rock with a lot of Indie Rock to its name. Brandon Flowers had somewhat of an Interpol thing going on with his vocal delivery too. Now, with his Springsteen worship, The Killers are more often to be compared to Arcade Fire than Interpol. The music that they do on this album is completely different from what they did in their prime.
Cons
First off, I already mentioned how derivative this album can sound at times. I will also say that (concept aside) that the songs aren’t that strong. Surely the messages are powerful and the meanings are well achieved, but the individual staying power could’ve been stronger than it was. Other than that, this album was pretty good.
Verdict
Damn…this album is by The Killers. That 2000s rock band that made “Mr. Brightside”. I’m glad that this is the direction that they decided to go in because if they stuck to that New Wave-inspired music, I think their longevity would’ve perished by now. This is where they turned out, and I like it.
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