Are The Killers more than hitmakers? They dominated clubs until a few occasional haunts banned Mr. Brightside. A welcome rest for the ears, but a compilation of their greatest hits and a return to the stage at Leedsfest last year has reawakened a dormant but ever-running interest in their sound. We are not long for the peaceful times. Hot Fuss boomed through with the Las Vegas adrenalin coursing through The Killers. Swaggering pop rock tones deal with such confident force it is hard to disagree with the consistencies The Killers offer on this debut record. Flickers of it remain in their most recent works but will never hit the lofty heights of Somebody Told Me. But it is up to Brandon Flowers and the band to take this new direction away from what people expect. To convince of the new sound.
Hot Fuss is the inevitable starting point for those wanting to hear more from The Killers. Catching the inevitable chorus of Mr. Brightside somewhere in a club in Sunderland should kindle the love. It is not long before the stronger material displays itself and washes out Mr. Brightside, an at-best tonal thump where technical merit and tempo manipulation make up for the contemptuous lyrics. Hearing Mr. Brightside now is more of a challenge to your sanity. These words are etched into the fabric of surface-level UK culture, despite the band being from the deserts of the United States. Its glib affront to club aesthetic and dancing the night away is a sickening achievement. Defeated DJs will turn to this for an almost guaranteed pop of noise, and it is through generational handover rather than talented form that it happens. Hot Fuss has much more to offer but there is no chance of it being remembered for anything more than its hits.
It means the likes of album closer Everything Will Be Alright are lost to the void. Smile Like You Mean It has an intense, post-Britpop sound to it which is the only song to truly capture the resolute void left behind by the indie scene in the UK at this time. It is the route to understanding why The Killers made such a splash in England. Flowers has a vocal sway on these underrated moments which feels far more skilful and extensive than what is found on the hits. A slight divide between what reigns as the hits (Somebody Told Me) and the depth (Everything Will Be Alright) can be heard. Those hits are still of sincere quality and hold the usual weight of a swinging, club fodder-ready track. All These Things That I’ve Done has the annoying soul and soldier back-and-forth yet a beautiful supporting vocal run.
Much of the trouble with Hot Fuss is in how exposed we are to its main hits. The rest of it feels palatable in comparison but is crushed under the weight of songs which will never be lost from the live set or best-of compilations. Are they that good? Or have we been exposed to them too much to consider their shallowness? The best of The Killers is tucked away on Hot Fuss, an album which has a batch of songs sounding relatively underrated alongside a few singles which boomed through because the gap of quality in the UK music scene at the time was monumental. A fascinating experience, a right place and right time album which has been taken up as a champion of everything indie. Dark days indeed.
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