No Fear and Loathing from Las Vegas…
The Killers: 'Day and Age'
“Are we human, or are we denser-“
“No, no, it’s ‘Are we human, or are we dancer-“
“No, it’s not…”
…so thrashed the argument over The Killers’ newest single Human, a gloriously synthy and rather Pet Shop Boys slice of noise from the ever-indefatigable Las Vegas showmen. It finally came to pass that it was the latter, sourced from Gonzo specialist and all-round genius mentalist Hunter S Thompson, who disparagingly remarked that the USA was raising a generation of dancers; so there.
Artfully enough, the single is actually rather emblematic of the album as a whole, at once evoking the intrinsically playful spirit of Flowers’ song writing without ever really hitting the anthemic heights of Hot Fuss. Day & Age very much has its moments, and is a welcome departure from the moustachioed, Steinbeck-ian Springsteen-ism of Sam’s Town, which though producing some good singles never really took as a body of work.
The main difference really rests with the production. An airy and light feeling imbues the songs, and yet again there seems to be a desire to adapt, to be different, and to certain extents and in varying degrees they achieve this.
Opener Losing Touch is a light-rocker in the best Killers tradition, with brass and reverb utilised to layer the sound, followed by uber-smash Human, a delightfully New Romantic-esque rock song that melodically skims along the surface of a New Order-like background.
The real winner, for me, is the third track Spaceman, a driving and spiky anthem whose catchy “oh ohs” will stick in your head from the first listening, as much as the stabby synth-line that drags you breathlessly through the song. It’s all very Rocket Man and Ziggy Stardust, Flowers telling us it’s “…all in our minds” and describing wanting to “leave this star-crossed world behind”.
Things take turns for the odd from here on in mind, with Joy Ride the kind of thing you imagine Swiss Tony would listen to in his car, whilst A Dustland Fairytale down-changes the album into to a piano-led anthem that tip-toes back up the decibels before crashing to a big finish. Then flies by the bass-driven This is your Life, which is backed by what seems to be an entire African village chanting and seems to swell from the speakers to fill every inch of available space, and the forgettable I Can’t Stay, which at times sounds like an off-cut from a cancelled Disney film that incorporates an animal (let’s say a squirrel) fascinated by schmaltzy jazz.
The album tends to ebb away from there, with the edgier Neon Tiger leading into the electro-mess of The World We Live in, which seems to hint at the album freewheeling to a stop. This continues on the distended, though not bad, closer Goodnight, Travel Well whose valedictory message drags over seven or so minutes, with strings fading away at the end.
So what are you left with? Day & Age is nowhere near a bad album, but it is not really up to their other efforts. It should be lauded for having more originality in one song than most carbon-copy rock outfits muster in a lifetime (Yes you Kaisers Chiefs, a thousand times you), and for its inventive sound and lyricism. All in all, the album is plenty worth a listen, and The Killers can still assuredly take their seat at the stratospheric top table of current rock bands with a swagger.
7.5/10
Review by Paul Madill
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