4/5
Battle Tested & Reborn.
Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas. The make and break of Sin City whatever is on the cards. If you take the atmospheric, lonesome desert strewn, deserted highway to where everyone comes to win or go home in the boulevard of Sinatra city you may pass 'Sam's Town', some 'Hot Fuss' and 'Sawdust' and all the records over a 'Day & Age' that turned our travel companion soul soldiers to the brightside. As you see the lights come into view from the neon fog someone should tell you about 'Flamingo'; the street, casino and sensational solo house that our man behind the steering wheel Brandon Flowers built caught in the career/hiatus 'Crossfire'. Still, now everyone is back together for this classic American car ride as the four strong horse power Killers are 'Battle Born' with the new record to tune your car stereo to.
On this journey these boys where born to run and just like Springsteen armed with leather and American muscle arguably one of the best bands are tougher than the rest. As the 'Flesh and Bone' of the synth, string and sing strong beginning can attest as Flowers blooms and bares it all. The single strong, chart ascension of these Killers doesn't wilt either with the young love, Boss-esque 'Runaways' on radio replay. It hits you like a lightening bolt, as our driver tells us "Blonde hair blowin' in the summer wind/A blue-eyed girl playing in the sand/I'd been on a trail for a little while/But that was the night that she broke down and held my hand/The teenage rush, she said, 'maybe I'll just runaway, we got time/Well that ain't much...We can't wait 'til tomorrow" you won't want to go back.
And these road warriors have everything for this heartland, Nevada flag flying trip by way of Nashville too. From the guitars to the drums and keyboards. The eighties sound of 'The Way It Was' echo's the times and years of their last trip, while the "I don't want your picture on my cellphone/I just want you" sing-along of 'Here With Me' comes across more catchy than corny as our boy Brandon shows us the range of his vocals. It's only a short and sweet 'Matter Of Time' before these worn-boot tested band meet the 'Deadlines and Commitments' perfectly before hitting us hard and proud with 'Miss Atomic Bomb' which sweeps in like 'The Rising Tide' washing us with explosive rock.
The 'Heart of a Girl' keeps us back on the right beat and lonely scripture street of Flowers engraved legacy from the concrete. The legend laments "Looking out my window/An angel in robes appeared and nearly pulled me apart/A million miles of freedom, a million miles of road/But I still don't know where to start" on another this generation classic. 'From Here On Out' this life reflecting journey of love and light versus love and loss becomes the soundtrack of your senses as it becomes just you and the music.
It looks like Brandon Flowers' solo 'Flamingo' ride has given this band a new direction of decadence and depth. One full of bright and loud neon synth and lonesome, remote desert scenes. The biggest but still quite underrated act out of modern day American right now 'Be Still' on deep, atmospheric cut after cut. You may be lucky enough to get an even sharper sound and image from the rear-view of the 'Prize Fighter' and other boxed bonuses to carry you home but just like the title of this trip these 'Battle Born' Killers leave us alive with introspective inspiration and influence. This band been through battles, but they've won the war and now in this labour of love they're reborn. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
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