The Killers

Day and Age (2008)

November 30, 2008

** / ****

By Mr. Marlowe

You can’t fault The Killers for trying. Well, maybe you can.

The Killers first album, Hot Fuss is a bona fide phenomenon. Channeling Duran Duran and a slew of faceless ‘80s new wave one hit wonders the album is a modern synth masterpiece. The album is tight, focused, and catchy as anything in the past decade.

The Killers second album, Sam’s Town takes that ‘80s template and adds everything but the kitchen sink. Sounding like a band trying way too hard and failing at almost every step, the album is sloppy, over ambitious, and all over the map in style and quality. With its failed bombast and repetitive arena-ready wailing it is the definition of “the sophomore jinx.”

The Killers third album, Day and Age is the middle ground between its predecessors. Reigning in a bit of the bombast, reimplementing some of the gorgeous hooks of Hot Fuss, and dabbling in odd instrument additions and impeccable influences (this time David Bowie meets Elton John) Day and Age is a memorable mess of an album.

The album’s best song, I Can’t Stay shows why the masses love The Killers. By bastardizing old favorites (in this case perhaps Bowie’s Young Americans?), adding a few classic tricks (Caribbean steel drums and a saxophone!) and giving it a modern sheen the track is both familiar and fresh. It is also the most genuine song on the album capturing The Killers at their best and most honest.

Human posits singer Brandon Flowers as Elton John at the center of a Las Vegas club. The tune is decent, definitely catchy, and borders on electronica. It also shows exactly why The Killers always divide their critics: it feels like it is trying rather than just being. That frequently present aura of artifice is all over this album and like Sam’s Town, makes it less than it could be.

The rest of the album is made up of modern mash-ups of ‘70s disco/glam meets ‘80s new wave updated with modern production techniques. It’s the kind of thing I should like, want to like, but for whatever reason can’t quite get into. Modern radio loves this sort of over-the-top melodrama toned down just enough for the car ride home, and I suspect The Killers will continue lighting up radio waves across the country. But just because radio loves them doesn’t mean I have to.

Best Songs: I Can’t Stay, The World We Live In, Human