October 10, 2007 - At first glance having Las Vegas glam wavers The Killers cover a Joy Division track seems a bit out of place, mostly given the more upbeat nature of the former in stark contrast to the slightly morose and often depressing weight that Ian Curtis and company were known for dishing out during the course of their all-too-short career.

Listening to the original JD version of "Shadowplay" only serves to accentuate the disparity between the sonic focal points of each group. Joy Division went for a detached, almost clinical sound driven by skirling guitars, crackling whip rhythms, and indifferent basslines. It was all fueled by Curtis's laconic vocals delivered in a pinched tenor-cum-baritone that sounded as if it had been recorded in hollow metal box and then stripped of any warmth or emotion.

From the outset The Killers version is decidedly more upbeat. They've ditched the erratic jazz tainted drums in favor of click track-styled rhythms. They've also juiced the track up with quite a lot of synth, made the guitar licks a lot less derisive, and above all else have added in poppy "Oooh-oooh-oooh" vocals at the onset. The result is that The Killers have given the entire proceeding a much more buoyant and snappy outlook. To his credit frontman Brandon Flowers sounds uncannily like the long lost brother of Curtis, delivering the nihilistic lyrics in a deadpan drawl that surprisingly remains true to the void-like feeling of the original. Granted his vocal choruses and intermittent yelps are a far cry from what Curtis would have done, but in their own way they help flesh out the track and make it just a little bit more Killers than Joy Division.

When placed side by side the two versions are almost like night and day with the original Joy Division version being ripped from the Stygian depths of detached ennui while The Killers' take injects a little cheeriness into the mix and eventually takes a cult classic and breathes some new energy into it with surprising clarity.

In the grand scheme of The Killers limited oeuvre to date, their cover of "Shadowplay" is very easily the best thing they've done outside of their bona fide hit "Somebody Told Me." The reason the cover succeeds is because The Killers take the basic Joy Division blueprint and then inject it with a bit of sunny Las Vegas disposition. As such they ended up creating a new version that mixes gloom with glam for unexpectedly sweet results.

The track is currently available via iTunes. The digital download ties into the New York and Los Angeles premieres of the new Joy Division docu-drama Control (The Killers song is featured in the film). "Shadowplay" will also appear on The Killers forthcoming new album, Sawdust.

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