THE KILLERS - SAM'S TOWN

When The Killers emerged with Hot Fuss, in 2004, the immediacy of the quartet's songs helped to disguise what a strange band they were. Four wide-eyed Las Vegas boys from good Mormon stock, The Killers had no interest in the decadence of their hometown, longing, instead, for life in the rain-soaked north of England in the miserable early Eighties.

Their kindred spirits were misanthropes like Joy Division yet they had such a knack for radio-friendly choruses that their new wave songs, all of which were swathed in synths, always ended up sounding like chart-bound smashes. In that respect they weren't dissimilar to New Order. 

The Killers became (with Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian) part of the revolution that saw indie surpass pop as teenage Britain's soundtrack of choice. In 2006 The Killers moved, mentally, to America's heartland. The synths haven't gone completely, but have been stripped back in favour of 'real instruments', resulting in the title track itself coming on like the theme tune to US action-adventure TV show MacGyver.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that the source material here is Springsteen, whom songwriter Brandon Flowers credits as 'making me fall back in love with my America'. Not just any old Bruce but specifically Born to Run, which The Killers apparently studied and dissected, absorbed and rebuilt. Improbably, this proves to be their masterstroke. Selling Springsteen back to his homeland might look like a canny way of ensuring radio play, but there's no disputing the quality of their songs and Sam's Town sounds like a complete collection.

Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 180g

Tracklist:
A1 Sam's Town
A2 Enterlude
A3 When You Were Young
A4 Bling (Confessions Of A King)
A5 For Reasons Unknown
A6 Read My Mind
B1 Uncle Jonny
B2 Bones
B3 My List
B4 This River Is Wild
B5 Why Do I Keep Counting
B6 Exitlude