One of the biggest – and most successful – pivots in alternative rock history happened twenty years ago in the fall of 2006.
The Killers blew up in 2004 with a combination of hip New York new wave and UK post punk, their debut Hot Fuss deeply influenced by late 70s and early 80s music. Two years later on Sam’s Town they essentially jettisoned all that and never looked back.
Hot Fuss was about city night life and being cool. Sam’s Town was a gritty, serious detour across the country and into the heartland. Bruce Springsteen became the band’s guiding light and that has stayed that way ever since. The focus shifted to American nostalgia and a deep love of Las Vegas and the surrounding area, where the band grew up. And even though the amount of guitars and synths has varied on each album afterwards, the one constant has been that the songwriting has revolved around themes and stories from the southwestern states. Many of those stories are in fact about Brandon Flowers’ own family and friends, or people he has known. Even when he leans stylistically and visually into a Vegas showman persona, that folk storyteller in him remains. This is especially evident on his latest solo record Thrasher, a more country focused album that deals significantly with stories of regular everyday people outside of urban centres.
The pivot was instantly noticeable in the summer of 2006 when the band released first single “When You Were Young.” There was no coyness about their switch up; the surging earnestness was put front and centre. Follow-up singles “Bones”, “Read My Mind” and “For Reasons Unknown” were tinged with a few more synths, but still markedly different from Hot Fuss‘ overall sound. The band’s entire template had been replaced, and many of the album cuts were even more steeped in the new sound. “This River is Wild” was an obvious signifier, even more so than “When You Were Young”. The title track, “Bling (Confession of a King)”, and “Uncle Jonny” also borrowed elements from heartland rock.
Looking forward, even songs like “Human” from their 2008 album Day and Age – which is essentially a dance track – are still rooted in an homage to the Boss. If you strip that song down and remove the thumping beat and the many synths (which lean the track in a more Pet Shop Boys direction), it does sound a lot more like Springsteen. Speaking of which, the man himself would later record a special version of this album’s “A Dustland Fairytale” with the band.
2012’s Battle Born was essentially a spiritual sequel to Sam’s Town.
2017’s Wonderful Wonderful incorporated more new wave – and surprisingly funky first single “The Man” – but stayed the course and in 2019 they released non-album single “Land of the Free” which might just be their most Springsteen-esque song to date.
2020’s Imploding the Mirage continued that sound and 2021’s Pressure Machine did the same, only much more raw and stripped down.
The Killers came in, changed the entire sound of alternative rock in the mid-200s, then left that scene behind and started another whole new scene. A wise move considering the post-punk craze of the 2000s petered out by around 2008, with very few bands continuing in the spotlight once the 2010s began. However the success of Sam’s Town led to other Springsteen-inspired artists like Gaslight Anthem, Sam Fender, and The War on Drugs gaining traction and reviving an interest in Americana. Jack Antonoff of Bleachers has done a deep dive into that imagery in recent years, no doubt emboldened by The Killers’ success with that sound.
This album was the boldest move the band could have made and it paid off massively because The Killers are still headlining arenas to this day.
In a weird way you can say that Sam’s Town was the actual debut of the band The Killers were meant to be.
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