The Killers Day & Age - J's Review

Four times through, I need to listen to a record four times through before I trust that my initial reaction is valid. It's not a good sign for me when I'm listening to a record and the music just fades into the background unnoticed, and that's what happens with Day and Age. I went back and looked at how many songs of the two previous Killers records I love. Hot Fuss, I could listen to the first five songs over and over again and do still on a regular basis. Sam's Town, I ended up liking that material more after seeing some of it live than I did on my first reaction but again five songs stick with me there as well (first six minus Bling and then The River is Wild). Honestly on Day and Age, Losing Touch and Spaceman are my only faves and will be on regular rotation. I'm not even that wild about Human.

This new record has made me wonder what is it then in that handful of songs that appeals to me. I think the song Jenny Was a Friend of Mine is a good example. The song has a prominent bass line and a good mixture of guitar and keyboards. But the vocals, I love that Brandon can sound like he is completely insane ("She said she loved me!"). That's what does it for me, and you usually only get that on the faster material. With an album made up mostly of mid-tempo songs, there aren't enough opportunities to hear this.

Even though I'm not happy with the record, I am still very disappointed that I missed out getting a ticket to their O2 Arena performance here in London in February when the tickets sold out in record time. I would go see them again in a heartbeat.

On a side note, The Killers will now always make me think of haggis. We stopped in a pub in Edinburgh to try this legendary Scottish dish back in October and the music overhead was a compilation of Sam's Town and Hot Fuss. My daughter A and I sang along as we waited for our meal.--J

The Killers Day & Age - K's Review

Due to the fact that this Las Vegas group has never denied their 80s influences (actually, calling the following artists mere influences is like saying Zoso is just influenced by Led Zeppelin) like Bruce Springsteen, Joy Division, or Roxy Music, I tend to listen to them and judge how much I like their interpretations of these influences rather than look at them as artists of original music.

The first band I ever saw in St. Louis back in 2004, when I was fresh off the boat, was The Killers at Mississippi Night. I later saw them at The Pageant with J and M. I feel like, not only do they make me nostalgic about the 80s, but they also make me nostalgic for my few years in St. Louis. In general, my Killers admiration can get complicated and cloudy.

I also feel like my admiration for this band is incredibly manic, too. I will tear up a Killers album like a dog with a new toy. Once I’m done I throw it out and have no interest in listening to it until I’m ready to start the cycle again. When I’m in full-on Killers mode I do stupid things like get speeding tickets because I’m lost in the cd. But who knows when the mood will hit? How can a band be a danger to my mental health? What is it about them?

At the end of the day, I am undeniably in love with The Killers. They symbolize a somic euphoria to me that keeps me one foot in even while I’m facing the other direction.

But, back to Day and Age. I was extremely pleased by more than half the songs I loved while the rest I felt were just fillers. In the same mold as Sam's Town, it seemed like the second half of the album contained the most. That's extremely disappointing since I think this band is capable of so much more.

My highlights include:
Losing Touch - A Bowie-esque/ U2 Pop era tune layered with saxes and ping pong or Atari-sounding keyboards that opens the album.
Human - This is The Killers that I know J loves. I do, too! It’s a synth-laden, pop new wave throwback at the band’s best. This one also happens to be the theme song to the latest Blackberry Storm ads.
Spaceman - 80s pop HIT style. This song is the gateway drug that eventually leads the way to an incredibly poor attempt of me doing Molly Ringwald dance. This song will bring a tear to my eye when I see them live next year in Nashville. God, this one will be the one to make me get a ticket again. I get lost in this one.
I Can’t Stay - In my opinion, this song is a total hats-off to Talking Heads... the Talking Heads material I can stomach. I love the breezy, Caribbean flow of this one.

I am about to echo J here regarding the tempo of some of the songs..to me, this album contains a frenzy of mid-tempo fillers (not including bonus tracks):
A Dustland Fairytale - Sad 80s.
This Is Your Life - African chant 80s, big with artists like Peter Gabriel or the Dream Academy (Life in a Northern Town guys).
The World We Live In- Bad 80s.
Neon Tiger - Tune that needs a dance remix.
Joy Ride - Roxy Music all the way. I think this one could grow on me, but just doesn’t quite cut it.
Goodnight, Travel Well - If you strip away the layers of music you’ll hear planetarium theme music wedged into the background which makes it sort of interesting to me, but otherwise this album doesn’t benefit from it.

In the end I know I have to choose a rating. In my opinion, though there are a few stand-outs, I think this one is for the fans. This is hard to do, but I give it an UNMOVING. -K

Kings of Leon - Q's Band of the Year

Great cover pic!

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

This American band is getting a lot of press in the UK. Their song “Time to Pretend” was a free download on iTunes in America awhile back and while the lyrics are very cliché, it sticks with you. I gave the rest of the disc a spin about five times and the sounds are all over the place. There are times I think they are trying to sound like Bowie and there are times the vocals sound like Jagger on “Emotional Rescue”. In the end, it just doesn’t do much for me. --J

Is it Really Going to Happen?

Well folks, it looks like Chinese Democracy is really getting released. If you haven’t read Chuck Klosterman’s April Fool’s Review, check it out. My favorite quote is:

If you purchased a kitten on the day that Use Your Illusion I & II arrived in stores, it's probably dead by now.

--J

The Killers at Royal Albert Hall

As K reported, I was at the Royal Albert Hall last night for The Killers’ one-off London gig before their world tour starts. The show had been sold out for some time. If you go to a number of concerts, inevitably you have probably gone to a venue which used to be some grand theatre or movie house in its day, but now is kind of run down and the owners think, a perfect place for a rock show! The Riviera in Chicago is an example. Well, imagine walking into one of those places if it wasn’t run down and multiply that by six. That’s the Royal Albert Hall. It is incredibly beautiful. I walked in and instead of feeling like I was going to a rock show, I thought I was going to the opera. Because the show was going to be broadcast live on BBC Radio One, they did not have an opening band. Instead BBC Radio One’s DJ Zane Lowe took to the turntables playing a mix that began with a choir’s rendition of The Beatles’ All You Need is Love and featured ACDC’s Back in Black, The Strokes’ Last Night, Oasis’ Wonderwall, and Blur’s Song 2. He finished his set with Elvis Presley’s Viva Las Vegas. When he started his set, he said to the crowd, “Can you hear me?” and the guy behind me yelled back, “Yeah you fuckin twat!” Suddenly I didn’t feel like I was at the opera anymore…

When I was finding my way into the venue I passed two women with thick Eastern European (?) accents in matching leopard coats and jet black hair singing “Human” loudly. Two things popped into my head. 1. The new stuff is catching on. 2. They reminded me of the creepy twins in the hair metal band Cinderella’s videos.

The set was a tight 90 minutes filled with all of the big hits from Hot Fuss and Sam’s Town, some new material, and their cover of Joy Division’s Shadowplay. K and I texted back and forth throughout the set commenting on our favorite moments and what we thought of the new stuff. I loved “Spaceman” and “Losing Touch”. I may need to listen to others a bit more. Their new song “Joyride”, due to the bongos, made me think of Copacabana. I don’t want to think of Barry Manilow during a Killers show!

The band was tight and Brandon’s voice and showmanship were unbelievable. While his voice is perfect for their material, he also has this timeless air about him, like it wouldn’t be out of place for him to break into a Cole Porter standard. My favorite moments are too many to list, so I’ll just post the setlist that K so kindly compiled. --J

Human
For Reasons Unknown
Smile Like You Mean It
Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
Somebody Told Me
Sweet Talk
Losing Touch
Spaceman
Sam's Town
Read My Mind
Joyride
Bones
Shadowplay
Mr Brightside

Neon Tiger
All These Things That I've Done
When You Were Young

The Killers at Royal Albert Hall RIGHT NOW

At this very moment, J is in the audience at the Royal Albert Hall in London watching The Killers. Thousands of miles away I am sitting at my desk in Huntsville, AL beaming in BBC Radio 1 to listen in live. J, thanks for the tip and I'm SO THERE with you babe! "...BUT MY HEART, IT DON'T BEEAAAT, IT DON'T BEEAAAT THE WAY IT USED TOOOOOO..." :-) Have fun sweety! -K