Big Talk - Big Talk

Being a fan of the Killers in the past 5 years has been a tempestuous relationship. 'Day and Age' of course proved a little divisive in its experimentation with the beepier side of the musical spectrum, and whilst achieving some negligible success it felt a little half-baked: what was to come next wasn't much better. As much as I could waffle on about how much I fancy the pants off Brandon Flowers, last year's Flamingo really was average at best. So the times are a little bit worrying for someone who holds Sam's Town as his favourite record of the noughties - but fear no more, another of The Killers is going to tackle a solo record. Sort-of.

Drummer of the American giants, Ronnie Vanucci Jr., has teamed up with Taylor Milne and former Weezer/Tegan and Sara bassist Matt Sharp for this, a loud country-rock assault. If you don't like Springsteen you'd probably be better off looking elsewhere. It kicks off tremendously with 'Katzenjammer', a heavyset representation of Real~America~ (it opens, "Is it too early for whiskey?") that jolts along a country road with a stupidly simple riff-hook that's difficult to resist. He even manages to assert a pretty solid Flowers impression on 'Getaways', which verges a little on the Orson side of American cheese.


'Under Water' does well to hammer in some less-annoying riffs, but marks the end of the theatrics: on 'The Next One Living' we're introduced to a much gentler, more easygoing rhythm with convincing catchiness. Those looking to this for a little bit of a Killers fix might find comfort in 'Replica' with its drivetime safeties and somewhat nonsense lyrics - all criticisms becoming redundant when its chorus kicks in.

On 'No Whiskey' the group try a simpler blues approach which they pull off comfortably but without anything particularly interesting or exciting, even with those rich flicks around the halfway-point onwards. The typical "trouble with the law" and "taking it all too easy" make 'Girl At Sunrise' feel stale, and the riffs thud along repetitively like a Bon Jovi-induced nightmare. The lyrical clichés and clap-along rhythms of 'White Dove' again drag the album into a dangerous pastiche project, before 'Living In Pictures' injects some well-timed adrenaline.

'Hunting Season' is pleasant enough to verge on the line that separates alright and boring, but it's wobbling. The barndance is almost upon us in the raucous 'A Fine Time To Need Me' that genuinely initially reminded me of Randy Newman's Strange Things from the (first) Toy Story soundtrack. It's certainly lovely and probably right up someone's alley... just not mine. We finish with 'Big Eye' which, like 'No Whiskey', feels like a half-hearted attempt at asserting some kind of devil-may-care attitude after all of the line-dancing. I'm unconvinced.


Ultimately? I feel no different to how I felt after listening to Flamingo. After the initial kick of "Oooh, some new Killers stuff!" you're eventually left scraping at the floor for something that might even come close to resembling Bones or Spaceman, and are really left with some generic dirge. There are one or two decent tracks here but this really isn't something I see myself coming back to.

Rating: 5/10
Highlights: Katzenjammer, The Next One Living, Replica, Under Water
Avoid: Girl At Sunrise, White Dove, Hunting Season, No Whiskey

Artwork Watch: Probably an attempt at "local diner" authenticity that's totally lost on me.
For fans of: Shania Twain, boredom, chewing grass.