REVIEW: Day & Age

The Killers
Day & Age
© 2008 Island
www.thekillersmusic.com

As is their wont, Day & Age marks yet another new musical direction for The Killers. Where Hot Fuss relied on big, bright-lights sounds that evoked their hometown of Las Vegas and Sam’s Town paid homage to quintessentially American artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, Day & Age evokes David Bowie and disco. As before, The Killers have taken these borrowed elements and combined them with their showy, post-punk revival style, creating an experience that is at once unique and a continuation of their previous efforts.


A representative highlight of this album is “Spaceman,” which combines a wall of sound well that evokes the best of Glam Rock, Brandon Flowers’ desperation-tinged vocals, and a triumphant crescendo.

Other highlights include the disco-beat “Human” and “The World We Live In,” which could easily be a cover to an 80s Bowie song.

All is not perfect though, and the problems that affect Day & Age are the same that have affected previous Killers albums. The first may be the most forgivable; as a band who constantly are trying to reach new ground, they tend to stumble hard. With so much New, there is very little Old for them to fall back on. Throughout the album, there are instances where the various sonic themes fail to mesh properly, with “Neon Tiger” standing out as particularly off.

Some of the album’s failings also owe themselves to Brandon Flowers’ voice which, at times, clearly shows its lack of range. The sound that fit “Spaceman” so aptly comes across as overly whiny or small in other times.

The final chief difficulty rests with the music itself. Underlying their genre-mixing themes is a rugged, if simplistic, alt-rock base. While this is a vital anchor for the music, it is also limiting. Had they allowed themselves a little more slack, perhaps they would not have tripped up quite so often.

STRONGLY RECCOMENDED IF… you enjoy other “big sound” artists, such as U2, David Bowie, and the Rolling Stones. Those who were disappointed by the grittier sound of Sam’s Town compared to Hot Fuss may be glad to see The Killers’ flashier side returning, albeit in a somewhat different form.

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