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THE KILLERS
RATING: 7
PLAY THESE: JENNY WAS A FRIEND OF MINE, SOMEBODY TOLD ME, ALL THESE THINGS I'VE DONE
SKIP THESE: ANDY YOU'RE A STAR, , MIDNIGHT SHOW, EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT
"The Killers," eh? Sounds pretty menacing, but the reality is something rather different, as a brief listen to this record will attest. I don't know very much about these guys, but I'm pretty certain that I love their breakthrough single, 'Somebody Told Me,' which is a catchy slice of 80's retro pop with a memorable gender-bending chorus. This song - and the whole album, really - reminds me of the kind of music I used to pick up at night on my AM radio back when I was a small lad in the mid 80's. Lots of keyboards, with plenty of guitars, and an androgynous singer with a fake London accent - it sounds like a recipe for your average 80's pop band. Which is the whole problem, to be honest. These guys are painfully average in every regard, and the fact that we heard it all before 25 years ago (I keep waiting for Simon LeBon to launch into 'Girls on Film' before every chorus on this album) doesn't help matters either. The Killers are good for a one-time nostalgia trip, and that's about it.
That being said, there are a couple of other catchy tunes on this album, which will likely get a lot of airplay in coming months. The album opener 'Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine' is ear-catching, and 'All These Thing I've Done' is an unlikely marriage between Depeche Mode rhythms and Beach Boy harmonies that somehow works. Other than that, nothing really sticks out as being memorable. At this point in their career, at least, The Killers are simply a good novelty singles band, which makes purchasing Hot Fuss superfluous at best - and a waste of money at worst.
P.S. Just download the damn song, ok? It's all you really need to hear from this album.