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Hot Take: Sam’s Town

  • October 23, 2006
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It was down to 44 degrees this morning, but I was not to be deterred. I kept the top down. Clear and cold, the air whipped around me tugging at the new scarf around my neck. The scarf fluttered above the car looking like a gold striped ribbon on a gift wrapped in black paper. The Killers played to me, guitars building along with the revs…

"We're burning down the highway skyline
on the back of a hurricane that started turning
when you were young
when you were young"

The roaring wind, the cold air stinging my face and numbing my fingers, driving fast on the best road in Austin, and listening to new music formed a perfect storm of joy for me this morning. I couldn’t stop smiling. I don’t know if it was therapy or a drug, but it was a welcome break from the melancholia that I have been feeling, as I do every year when Summer changes to Autumn.

The Killers’ first CD Hot Fuss never left heavy rotation around me. Literally, it never left the CD changer in my car. As a complete work, it satisfied and thrilled like no other album I had heard in years. Every song was a hidden treasure of sonic tracings and echoes from the 80’s in a way that was like authentic genetic influence rather than a band playing dress-up. Rising above the rest was a song that has become one of my favorites – Brandon Flowers’ discussion with God on “All These Things I’ve Done” – a song I have quoted on this blog before.

On their new CD Sam’s Town, The Killers continue to dazzle, if perhaps to a slightly lesser degree. The DNA strands from my youth are still there. I hear the Styx opening to Paradise Theater on Enterlude. I hear Springsteen’s Born to Run (or Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s superior(!) remake) in When You Were Young and a Book of Love synth thread in perhaps the best song of the album Read My Mind. OCD keeps me from absorbing the whole album at once, so I am rotating through my first favorites, the aforementioned three plus Sam’s Town and Reasons Unknown. In my opinion, these alone substantiate this sophomore effort as near-brilliant in its own right. If I warm to the second half of the CD, I will consider it great indeed.

"Slipping in my faith
until I fall
you never returned that call
woman, open the door
don't let it sting
I wanna breathe that fire again

She said
I don't mind
if you don't mind
'cause I don't shine
if you don't shine"

- The Killers "Read My Mind"

Please pin, tweet, and share! Most importantly, let me know what you think in the comments below.

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1 comment
  1. Rob says:
    October 25, 2006 at 11:47 am

    Now they’re going to bed
    And my stomach is sick
    And it’s all in my head
    But she’s touching his chest now

    I love that.

    In When You Were Young I hear a flutter of Meat Loaf, too.

    But you nail it with the line, Every song was a hidden treasure of sonic tracings and echoes from the 80’s in a way that was like authentic genetic influence rather than a band playing dress-up.

    They are unique and creative while being clearly influenced by the 80s. Love it.

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