The Killers – Sam’s Town

The Killers did everything possible on Hot Fuss to make it a massive success. It was mass-produced to be devoured by the teenage rock fans of America. Everything was carefully crafted, from the look onward. But that was two years ago, and now the Vegas quartet are back with Sam’s Town and already busy making sure that this album will be a commercial success. I mean, attacking a well-established band just ten days after the album gets released and claiming that their CD will make you look at American differently is definitely a carefully constructed press ploy. Then to go and call the album “one of the best albums in the past 20 years” you’re just looking for controversial press. Despite all of this, Sam’s Town (like Hot Fuss) isn’t that bad – but far from the best album in the past twenty years.

Sam’s Town kicks off with the title track and gives the listener an idea of what to expect from the album. You see the narrator (Flowers) desperately trying to escape his town, to move onto something more exciting and adventurous, all backed up by The Killers‘ signature brand of electro-British new-wave pop. This theme is vastly different from the boy-love-girl relationships that were scattered throughout their debut. After Sam’s Town, they then go into the 49-second introduction, Enterlude, were the band finally restrains from stroking their own egos and thank their fans, welcoming them to the album “even if it’s just for the day.” Of course, they end the album with another piano based ballad, Exitlude, to say farewell to everyone and thank them once again too.

The rest of the album shows that, despite their success with Hot Fuss, the band didn’t stick with the same tired formula. While there’s no mistaking that the album here is done by The Killers, it is much more down to earth and well defined compared to its predecessor. The keyboards and effects aren’t nearly as present here compared to Hot Fuss as they slowly leave the synth/new-wave pop behind them and go for a more rock oriented sound where they focus on the song as a whole rather than just an insanely catchy chorus and crazy keyboard melody to propel the songs forward. That’s not saying that the bad will alienate their old fans, they do still have certain new-wave qualities to them (one listen to the single When You Were Young and you’ll hear that), but it is just toned back for a slightly heavier sound instead of the overly poppy tracks like Somebody Told Me.

Sadly though, while the album is a step in the right direction, Sam’s Town still wears thing relatively quickly. It starts off strong, but you can’t help but feel that a fair few of the tracks could be improved upon and that as they are, they’re just filler. Take, Bling (Confession Of A King) for example; it starts off horribly, it’s boring and forgettable but as the song progresses it picks up and shows glimpses of being a gem but the first half isn’t up to par. With a bit of improvement the song could be great, but as it is, its just lacking. Other tracks like My List and Uncle Johnny fall victim to that too, but unlike Bling, they never pick up and are just songs you skip every time instead.

To say I’ll never listen to Sam’s Town again would be a downright lie. There’s enough substance in here to merit a fair few listens, but like the band’s debut, it does wear thin. A few improvements on certain songs and the album would be a stellar release, but now it seems to be filled with too many ups and downs to merit anywhere near the status of best albums in 2006 let alone the past two decades.