Album Reviews

The album Day and Age testifies that even successful pop stars can pursue further musical development. Either that, or Dave Keuning just got sick of playing guitar and decided to take up the saxophone and extraneous percussion. The Killers' third studio album features an assortment of synthesized beats and instrumentation, taking complexity from the rock-bottom (but oh-so catchy) "Mr. Brightside" to a multi-faceted contrivance. The album plays with adequate continuity but has enough divagations to maintain interest.

"Losing Touch" starts off the album with a dense saxophone strain in the background layer, offset by light and colorful chorus beats. The song finishes with strengthened vocals and a Sam's Town-era guitar solo. This substantial development near the end of the songs is characteristic of the Killers' style throughout the new album. Tribal chants and harpsichord make a head-turning appearance in "This is Your Life," while sounds of the tropics are brought by maracas and steel drums in "I Can't Stay." Though unlike anything they have recorded before, these alluring touches yield confidence in their sound. The last two songs conclude the album with a sobering mentation regarding the album's title. "The World We Live In" posits that the world will not be refashioned overnight, but that we can still endure and inhabit. Then, in a disheartening adieu, "Goodnight, Travel Well" will dampen spirits with an oppressive muse on helplessness.

Though not quite as electronically qualified as the Bravery, tracks off Day and Age would still sound more appropriate in the club than blared out of speakers on the freeway. Perhaps now, actually becoming more like musicians than uppity pop-stars, the Killers have released their most bona fide album yet.

-Allan Wetzel