THE KILLERS TAKE AIM AT THE 80's

Louisville Kentucky July 20,2005

From Courier-Journal

The recent resurgence of all things'80s in the pop-music world has sometimes been perplexing.

Comebacks by the Cure, Morrissey and Duran Duran make sense. It's nostalgia, pure and simple, and those bands draw an older crowd that lived through the lip gloss, puffy shirts and mascara the first time around.

But how do you explain the Killers, who sold out the Louisville Palace Wednesday night, and the 18-year-olds who love them?

Born and bred in Las Vegas, Brandon Flowers, David Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci barely lived in the '80s much less lived through them. But the band's sound is a hodge-podge homage to the decade, built around Keuning's guitar and Flowers' synth-pop keyboard blasts.

At times, the band sounds like the Cure, Smiths, Human League and even Flock of Seagulls as backed by Elvis Costello's Attractions; it's no wonder that it first took off in the United Kingdom, where that kind of thing is tolerated. The tougher question is why American teens raised in the '90s love music based in the '80s. Maybe it sounds like art compared to the boy bands they've been force-fed since infancy.

Drummer Vannucci is the Killers' secret weapon, driving the band's energy to often outlandish levels on songs such as "Smile Like You Mean It" and "Mr. Brightside." The Killers are at their best when channeling that energy into oversized hooks that play against Flowers' persona of the slightly ironic semi-nerd. Sometimes you're not really sure if he's being sincere or making fun, which creates a nice tension when paired with the unapologetic Top 40 choruses.

Flowers was the focus of the audience's love at the Palace, but he can be problematic once you factor out his teen-idol appeal. He sings like a bizarro-world cross between the Cure's Robert Smith and the B-52's Fred Schneider, a combination that doesn't hold up particularly well after 30 or so minutes.

photos by David  Harpe