December 26th, 2008I Can’t Stay (The Killers) 
Does anyone really take the Killers seriously? I mean, if Hot Fuss wasn’t enough to convince you, “When You Were Young” off of Sam’s Town should have made everyone and their mother realize Brand Flowers and company are in the business of making ridiculous pop music, seemingly done as though they are writing the greatest song of all time over and over but with that slight wink and nod to denote that they’re in on the joke as well. Previously, maybe the message had gotten muddled, as their debut was a little too glammy and their follow up a little bit too serious. Day & Age however makes no pretensions of being anything other than what the Killers have always done best; ridiculously silly, stupid/genius pop.
And you know what, it works wonderfully.
My only real gripe with the album is that they perhaps put out the least impressive song as the single. “Human” showcases the Killers at their most normal, sounding just like anything from their previous two albums. While the lyric “Are we human, or are we dancer” has caused some slight confusion (despite being a neat allusion), the song is generally just a normal Killers song, sounding a bit too much like “When You Were Young” at points. The rest of the album is far more pushed to the extreme of Flowers weird songwriting, with the random horn section, flamenco flourish, organ, random dance rhythm, you name it and Flowers probably wrote something similar for Day & Age.
While “Human” is predictable and standard, the rest of the album is anything but. From the opening track “Losing Touch“, we get a dirty groove that flitters in between the incredibly saccharine introduction and chorus. Imagine a marriage between Christmas-time bells and whistles and late 80’s sleeze rock, all with reckless abandon for showmanship. “Spaceman” and “Joy Ride” are similarly flamboyant songs filled with non-sequitors, as “Joy Ride” has horns and a LA-styled rhythm for no other reason than it sounds awesome when combined. It sounds like these songs were either written in 5 minutes or crafted for months upon months, with so much going on that the line between pop music and a deeper, more thoughtful art-rock attitude gets blurred (note: art-rock is used in the least art-rock way possible).
Within all the glitz and glamour the album has (and boy does it pile it on [well, might I add]), there is also a decidedly human aspect to it. Singer Brandon Flowers, for all of his blowhardiness and pompous singing nature, still has those cracks and frailties in his voice the make him easy to relate to. While his lyrics still somewhat suffer from his inability to decide whether he wants to write accessible pop lyrics or more insightful material, his singing has never been overall more entertaining and easy to listen to. “I Can’t Stay” has him crooning over an island styled tune, replete with harp and xylophones. “A Dustland Fairytale” starts off normally enough, a soft piano and synth over Flowers singing “He’d look just like you’d want him too; some kind of slick chrome American prince”, but follows the Killers realms of expanding songs into the ridiculous as it turns into a bombastic arena-rock anthem, Flowers bellowing away.
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