There has not been a scarcity of well established indie and alternative artists releasing new music within the past few months. New releases this past spring and summer from Lorde, Imagine Dragons, Queens of the Stone Age, Portugal, The Man, Foo Fighters and Halsey clearly justify this statement. One particular group in the indie scene has kicked off the fall and blown people away with one of its most essential albums since the mid 2000s: The Killers.
The Killers are a Las Vegas based rock band that formed in 2001 with Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboard, bass) and Dave Keuning (supporting vocals, guitar). The band completed its lineup in 2002 when Mark Stoermer joined on bass and supporting vocals and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. on percussion.
The Killers achieved instant commercial success after the release of its debut studio album, “Hot Fuss,” in 2004. The group went on to release two more albums, “Sawdust” and “Day & Age,” in 2006 and 2008 respectively, before taking a year long hiatus. The Killers released its fourth studio album, “Battle Born,” in 2012 shortly after its return. This brings us to “Wonderful Wonderful,” the Killers’ fifth studio album and its first album to be released in more than five years. Every major fan of this band has been anticipating this release for an everlasting time period.
The musicianship and effort The Killers put into “Wonderful Wonderful” has made this album worth the wait.
The album itself represents a shift in the band’s lyrical content. The Killers are notorious for crazy, silly rock songs, while on this record the lyrics are more personal, giving the album more maturity than its previous record. Each song on “Wonderful Wonderful” has its own surprises as well, whether it be a sudden guitar riff or a drum beat that will occur during a small section of the song when paying really close attention to it.
I was enticed into listening to this album because I had been playing the album’s lead single “The Man” on repeat all summer long. This song begins with a 70s inspired disco-rock driven beat that carries through the whole song. The song is built around Kool & The Gang’s song, “Spirit Of The Boogie” and also pays tribute to David Bowie by pulling a sample from his song “Fame.” The catchy funk beats are not the only factors that contribute to the astonishment of this song. The lyrics dive into frontman Brandon Flowers creating a satire on the arrogant man he used to be. The song indirectly reflects on how he has come to terms with who he once was and how he has now changed for the better. This song is one of the most prominent on “Wonderful Wonderful” and is my personal favorite track off the album.
The title track of the album is also well made. The song demonstrates a new sound for the The Killers, as Flowers performs in a wider vocal range that contrasts other songs.
“Run For Cover” is filled with an abundance of energy throughout. This song was written back in 2008, originally intended for “Day & Age,” but the band completed and updated the lyrics by incorporating relevant political terms. These lyrics dig into the issues of domestic violence as the song centers around a woman trying to run away from her abusive husband while she has the chance. The song is uptempo from beginning to end. The added synthesizers in the background creates an enjoyable listen and highlights the band’s creativity.
Another amazing track on this album is “The Calling.” This song is styled as a western rock song with thick, nasally cowboy lead guitars and a heavy bass drum. The song opens up in a spoken word verse by Woody Harrelson reading bible verses, Matthew 9:10-12. The verses are also spoken, which adds a haunting quality to the song. The style of this song is unique to this particular time period, as it is one of the songs that stands out the most on this album. As a result, it provides the listener with a newer, refreshed sound in music.
The Killers have blown away its audience with this record. The group had been silent for five years, but it is refreshing to see it back and sounding better than it ever has before in this decade. The Killers have leaned more towards a new wave sound with this album, compared to the pop punk sound that was dominant within the alternative rock genre during the mid 2000s. The instrumentation and production within the band complement Flowers’ vocals overall, which enhance the messages that are coming across in the lyrics and create a lively and pleasant listening experience.
