#455 - "Hot Fuss" - The Killers

Released On:  Island/Universal/Mercury, 2004

If Interpol wanted to be Joy Division by way of The Cure, then the Killers were the mid-decade aftermath - New Order.  It was as bright and polished as one might expect from a band coming from Las Vegas, yet underneath that pop sheen and Eighties-Retro groove was a sense of sadness and resentment.  Not to harp on the obvious, but the Killers and New Order shared the same ideal:  bang-on pop songs that sound as if they could have been formed whole by a versificator that were also fucking downers.  To the casual listener they were good-time songs, pop hits to soundtrack nights at alterna-clubs, but it was always just an illusion to mask the real emotions:  the emotional toll that is taken by living and loving in Sin City.

Where You'd Know It From:  Any of it's four big singles.  Maybe you're one of the 3.4 million people in the U.S  (or the 300 000 from Canada?) that bought it.  Probably you've just heard it on the radio.

Track Listing:
1.  Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine (4:04)
2.  Mr. Brightside (3:42)
3.  Smile Like You Mean It (3:54)
4.  Somebody Told Me (3:17)
5.  All These Things That I've Done (5:01)
6.  Andy, You're A Star (3:14)
7.  On Top (4:18)
8.  Change Your Mind (3:11)
9.  Believe Me Natalie (5:05)
10.  Midnight Show (4:02)
11.  Everything Will Be Alright (5:45)

("Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine")

("Somebody Told Me")

("Mr. Brightside")