From hot and steamy Las Vegas, the Killers exploded onto the scene in 2004. Led by Brandon Flowers, they first practiced in UNLV music rooms, and later signed with the British arm of Warner Brothers Music and moved to England. With Hot Fuss and its hit singles, “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr. Brightwside,” they served notice of another up-and-coming band. Now, back in 2006 with Sam’s Town, Flowers claims that they’ve released the best album of the last 20 years.
While much of their music is influenced by their love affair with all things British (and the 1980s), their album reflects Americana at its best and worst. The ‘bigness’ of their music is reflexive of having come from Las Vegas, but the group as a whole has avoided the traps of the suggested lifestyle. Flowers, a practicing Mormon, says being a faithful husband and believer, and a rock star, requires a balancing act. Their music reflects this balance, but Flowers doesn’t always ride the path of peaceful existence.
Flowers has himself picked fights with The Bravery and Fall Out Boy, in apparent attempts to drum up interest in the band and its latest release. He often puts his foot in his mouth, having also offended Scottish pride by claiming “Where Is She?” from Hot Fuss referenced a woman killed in a domestic violence case. Ever quick to be the crowd pleaser, Flowers apologized, saying, “I came across kind of badly. I’d hate to cause offense or further hurt because of it… There’s no way on earth I could ever possibly pretend to know what it might actually feel like to suffer such a thing, and I wouldn’t presume to appropriate any other individual’s feelings for a song.”
Tripping further down controversy lane, he’s also attacked Christina Aguilera, and Green Day. Calling American Idiot a “calculated Anti-Americanism,” he condemned their decision to film Bullet In A Bible overseas, while missing his own expatriate status while recording Hot Fuss. Now, with Sam’s Town, he pushes for a look at small town America, with nominations for six Grammys, three Billboard music awards, and three MTV Music Video Awards already under their belt.
“It’s just that we’re different than other people, because that isn’t it for me—opening for U2 is not my pinnacle,” Flowers said recently. “I wanna have opening bands myself at that Cardiff stadium in 10 years. So I guess we’re still looking up, still shooting for the stars.”
Sam’s Town shoots for the stars, with a homespun feel. Mixing equal parts temptation and true emotional response, it is a semi-autobiographical look at their own struggles in Las Vegas, and the road back. Bringing a bittersweet sound to the ups and downs of life in America, the band provides both anthemic (“When We Were Young,”) biographic (“Uncle Johnny Did Cocaine,”) and their tribute to the working class casino, "Sam’s Town." Overall, Flowers unabashedly puts it in the same class as Ok Computer and Achtung Baby, with a patriotic spin: “we’ve gotten in touch with how much we love America.”
Now, it’s up to America to decide if it loves Sam’s Town.
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