Category Archives: the killers

That’s All You’ll Ever Get From Me

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This band is getting a lot of press as “The next big thing from Vegas.” I don’t mean to be a balloon-popper, but you’ve got a lead singer who is a Vegas native, his cronies from BYU, and their cronies from the east coast who all moved to Vegas a year ago. So I don’t know if I am supposed to point out their similarities with The Killers or why they are dissimilar or whether just having mixed musical elements makes you sound like The Killers… But it’s effing hot outside and inside, I’m afraid to kick my thermostat over 80 lest my power bill surpass the $423 it was for the last month, I want to work out but where would I do it, and it’s making me kind of oh… Wait.

Now that you’ve had your serving of piss with corn flakes, let me say that Imagine Dragons truly have an amazing stage presence, put on a great show, and have an impressive sound.

Imagine Dragons is Dan Reynolds on vocals and keys, Wayne Sermon on guitar, Brittany Tolman on keys, Ben McKee on bass, and Andrew Tolman on drums (yes, married. Recently.) They recorded their first EP upon moving to Las Vegas from Utah. It was good. Then they released a second, and it’s ten times better. So… Maybe the heat didn’t get to them yet. Maybe they knew they needed to be in Reynolds’ hometown to really get the energy flowing. Maybe the fact that his brother is also the Killers’ manager doesn’t hurt with the momentum either.

It’s working. They have knocked out competition in multiple Battles of the Bands, traveling extensively to provide the beat-down with their energetic on-stage presence. I saw them open for Paper Tongues, Civil Twilight, and Neon Trees. They were unequivocally better than the other two openers.

Not everyone agrees. Molly Bergen from West Coast Sound said, “It was exactly the kind of neutered, harmless pop rock that made Maroon 5 and Train stars. With their lead singer’s good looks and passionate thrashing on stage they should go far.” OUCH! Well, what are you going to do. They’re the rockin’est Mormons since the Osmonds. You gotta start somewhere. They’ve got endorsements from Vegas’ local “mix” station as well as from their “alternative” station, so maybe Bergen isn’t too far off.


Download Imagine Dragons – I Don’t Mind

After an amazing week in Los Angeles and performance in Las Vegas, the band is headed back to Provo for a week, seemingly to relax since the next gig is on Friday at Club Velour. Then it’s on to Park City for a festie, back to Vegas in September for a show at the Pub at Monte Carlo – that sounds like a good time! – and then back to return to the scene of their recent domination at the Viper Room.

You need to get on this.

The dice were loaded from the start

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Have you listened to Sawdust yet?

You know, I once had a theory. The best songs are on the B side. I even got a customized license plate: B SIDE. But in the digital age it is hard to notice when a B side is actually offered on a single, let alone an album. And when a “B sides” album is released, we are conditioned now to view it with a skeptical “what are they trying to market at me now” eye.

The Killers released a collection of “B sides and rarities” (your eyebrow almost instinctively wants to raise in a sneer doesn’t it!) two years ago, and they ultimately called it Sawdust.

I loved almost every unreleased single on “Hot Fuss”, their first album. I thought it was a good one. As you know, The Killers ended up getting insane attention and adoration, and as will happen sometimes… Many of us may have decided to turn away from them. When Sam’s Town came out, I remember standing at Zia trying to decide whether to buy it. I remember word for word what I said to Mookie: “I am just not interested in what else Brandon Flowers has to say right now.”

Well, we didn’t buy Sam’s Town on that visit but of course we still ended up buying it soon after. I enjoyed it – there is just something about The Killers for me I guess – but Mookie thought it was Meh. He liked to listen to it on the exercise bike though.

I have to admit I don’t remember paying attention when Sawdust was released, but I followed the news about the recording of Day & Age, which came out in 2008. I still didn’t even pay enough attention to that album, either.

Let’s make all of this right. It’s time to take notice of Sawdust. Covers of Joy Division, Kenny Rogers, and Dire Straits. Uh-huh. Doesn’t that sound like an odd enough collection of “b sides and rarities” for ya? A few new tracks. A few scraps from the cutting room of the previous albums. And it works.

Here you go. The Killers’ cover of “Romeo and Juliet” from Dire Straits’ 1980 Making Movies album. Well, from the B-sides and rarities 2007 Sawdust album. We’re good, right?

Download The Killers – Romeo and Juliet

And just because I want you to go buy this damn album for someone you know who loves b sides as much as I do, I am not going to share any of the new tracks that they put on this ditty. But here is a version of “Sam’s Town” that I love. Cuz I like living in Sam’s Town, quite honestly. I see London, I see Sam’s Town.

Download The Killers – Sam’s Town Abby Road Version

Hey homeslices. There are only 14 days until Christmas. Even fewer by the time you read this. Buy something!