Album du jour #11 - 5.1derfulicide

The Killers – Sam’s Town (2006)

Prior Relationship to Album: I had never heard Hot Fuss, so The Killers were new to me when Pitchfork et al reviewed this album to relatively high acclaim. And since I haven’t really listened to the first one yet, my listening won’t be coloured by the “letdown by comparison” phenomenon that seemed to be prevalent amongst most reviewers.

High Point: I almost went with “Bling”, but I have to pick #07 “Uncle Johnny” for this spot. Mainly due to the relaxed and more confident energy that really makes it stand out from the rest of the album (or maybe I just like the bass line more).

Low Point: #03 “When You Were Young.” I have a hard time distinguishing this song from “For Reasons Unknown.” Like, I will switch back and forth between the two and they sound nearly identical. So maybe my feeling that WYWY is derivative exists because I think it sounds too much like a song on the same cd that I feel is slightly better. I don’t know. (Not surprisingly, this was their biggest hit single to date).

What I Learned/Realized:

- Brandon Flowers was “inspired” to try adding a guitarist to his band by going to an Oasis concert. I think Oasis deserves royalties for a brilliant idea like that!

- The Killers have a rivalry with Fall Out Boy. Which kind of reminds me of third grade when I used to shove around the quasi-retarded boy.

Future Relationship to Album: On first listen through I enjoyed this quite a bit, but I feel the need to doubt myself a bit. You see, I just picked up a new sound card and 5.lderful speakers, and it kind of makes everything sound utterly amazing. (Also, my new 22 inch LCD monitor makes winamp look *really* cool, but I don’t think that is influencing my judgment nearly as much). But then I put on Sufjan Stevens’ Illinoise just now, and it is blowing me away. (If he does Oregon, I will go fucking crazy). So maybe I’m just going to over-estimate all music until I adjust to my new toys.