Casino Royale.
Exploding back on the Las Vegas strip like the Flamingo of Sin City, The Killers are back like somebody told you. Even if the glistening heartland neon lost in the 'Miss Atomic Bomb' deserts looks like a mirage. Imploding and losing more members than Ryan Adams is fans, The Killers are staring down the barrel, like Brandon Flowers was going solo again for 'The Desired Effect'. But you know this roulette town only really wins when your backs against the wall and you're rolling with your last hand. And what an ace in the hole this band can still play as the wheel turns. "Have all the songs been written?/Have all the truths been told?/Has all the gas been siphoned?/Do the banks still carry gold?" Flowers asked on the last track of the last album, the wonderful, 'Wonderful, Wonderful'. I guess not. As with "back to back with Springsteen" hope that was born to run from the sand to the sin of Nevada, he Tyson knockout gets back off the canvas with lasting lines like, "When the train returns to the rails/When the ship is back in the harbor/I will make you happy again/I can see it, I believe it," like making one last play for the one that got away. And in 'Imploding' and its mirage magnificent album artwork. From the opening heartland hallmark 'My Own Soul's Warning' track that is as traditional Killer as a knife and gun as the jacking guitar and vivid vocals burst out the chamber. To the classic closing title track epic after the perfect dreams dry precursor, that sounds so beautifully and goose pimpling 80's it could end a John Hughes movie, word to the freeze frame John Candy still. This is no death of a discography dynasty. Be still, The Killers are back and the 'Battle Born' boys still have chips and clips at their disposal in the Springsteen season of their songbook shelving classic career.
Glastonbury gassed up last year with all their direct hits with a shot at the Great British countryside night, Flowers and his Killers in bloom refused to wilt in the midsummer heat for a night's dream that showed he really was 'The Man' ("come round"). In a 'Hot Fuss' the band showed exactly why they can brag their bravado with singles from their showstopping set. What band aside maybe The Beatles can boast five of their most famous and biggest hits to open one album (aside maybe the 'Summer Girl', 'Now I'm In It', 'Hallelujah', 'The Steps' and 'Don't Wanna' of Haim if they put those singles in that order for their 'Women In Music Pt. III' album of the year) other than this former fab four? 'Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine' (like this writers idol sister will always be), the meme inducing 'Mr. Brightside', 'Smile Like You Mean It', 'Somebody Told Me' and 'All The Things That I've Done' for you soul soldiers. And don't forget, 'Andy, You're A Star'. Still, it's not like The Killers haven't had hits since then. They're only 'Human' in this 'Day and Age' ("or are they dancer"). There's the 'Bones' that read your mind in Tokyo, Japan, or 'Sam's Town'. Their Bowie age or solo 'Crossfire's'. And of course the whole 'Battle' reborn in the pull of the slots. But 'Souls Warning' is really Killer like their always classic clips for the post MTV, music video generation once it kicks in. The first of two minus the band like their actual line-up is hallowed Hollywood and Americana ground with a famous actor filling out the roll for this mini movie. But cut, print and wrap the lyrics like, "If you could see through the banner of the sun/Into eternity's eyes, like a vision reaching down to you/Would you turn away?/What if it knew you by your name?/What kind of words would cut through the clutter of the whirlwind of these days?" As constellations of American eagles and all the pretty horses as clear as the snow on this desert night stand on top of a pick-up like a stetson, you can see the rousing of their reputation come on up like the rising.
Constant craving. At Glasto The Killers brought out the Pet Shop Boys, Johnny Marr big guns and now this band increase their legend by collaborating with 'Miss Chatelaine' herself, Canadian singer/songwriter K.D. Lang for the standout 'Lightning Fields' that sounding as 80's as her could bring thunder to this canyon like a nuclear test that left all those old Americans lining up on the strip with excitement to Geiger see how radioactive they were (ahh innocence. Ahh Americans). The coolest collaboration since they put Woody Harrelson at the start of a record reciting a Bible verse....cheers. Even former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham gets his chance to shine in the background, unlike he does on his SNL sketch starring the funniest man alive, Bill Hader. What's up with that? But it's OK. Whilst "puts out a cigarette and gets on the bus", 'Blowback' is one of the strongest second songs on any album you've heard in ages from a band that knows that you can't just get out the gates early, you have to maintain the run. Like for one example U2's 'Elevation' off 'All You Can't Leave Behind' being followed by 'Stuck In A Moment That You Can't Get Out Of' for late INXS, greatest frontman of all-time, Michael Hutchence. One these Las Vegas aces like the WNBA team have been honing for almost twenty years. Two decades later and they're still the one. The last of a 'Dying Breed' like the Black Keys-esque beginning track that got this band of brothers is all Killer, no filler. The strong single along with the 'Caution' ("let me introduce you to the featherweight queen.") warning first one and the brimstone beat of 'Fire In The Bone' that is just too funky, is the flesh and blood of this band. "It's the most romantic song I've ever written", Flowers says of the ode to his 'Dying Breed' wife. "if you're looking for strong and steady/Well, baby, you found it/We'll weather the coldest night/Baby, we're a dying breed/When everyone's compromising/I'll be your diehard/I'll be there when water's rising/I'll be your lifeguard/We're cut from a stained glass mountain/Baby, we're a dying breed." This one wins the race for a man who loves fast and furious American muscle as much as bandana born Bruce biopic. The pace picks up even more as we're 'Running Towards A Place' we don't know as Flowers religiously sings, "give me the eyes so I can see." Weyes Blood infuses 'My God' with even more holy spirit, "crawling back to your arms" for a lead singer and his leather clad and hair cream outfit like a Presley throwback that has never been afraid to storm the gates of Graceland with their hearts on their rolled up Billy Fury sleeves. There's a resonate power in vulnerability, that's not insecurity but strength. Even 'When The Dreams Run Dry' like 'Have All The Songs Been Written' in closing for the last note "beating the birds to Acapulco Bay". Take it from me for the record, I don't know who needs to hear this but The Killers are still one of the greatest bands of our generation, or all time...and that's no mirage. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'My Own Souls Warning', 'Lightning Fields (Feat. K. D. Lang)', 'Imploding The Mirage'.
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