There is something very special about a band of musicians. A group of people who are able to get together and bring different musical ideas, and then make it work. I always believed that it takes certain types of personalities, collectively finding a way to exist and create, to build successful synergy. Our featured artists this week are a perfect example of finally building cohesiveness and bringing the creation to their audience. This week we feature the rock band The Killers.
As I started planning for this week I was struck by the fact that The Killers are a band of the new millennium. Yes, The Killers are a band that found success, and worked exclusively since the year 2000. Does that mean they have a different sound from bands who started and worked in the 1980’s or 1990’s? I think so, and some other music writers agree with my assessment. The Killers beginning might be like most bands, but the resulting music is unique and good.
In 2001, Brandon Flowers was fired by his first band, a Las Vegas synthpop trio known as Blush Response. After attending an Oasis concert at the Hard Rock Hotel during The Tour of Brotherly Love, Flowers realized his calling was to be in a rock band and began searching for like-minded musicians. He eventually came across an ad posted in a Las Vegas newspaper by Dave Keuning, a 25-year-old guitarist who had moved to Vegas from Iowa a year earlier. When the pair met they bonded over similar musical influences and immediately began writing songs together in Keuning’s apartment. In November 2001, they headed to Kill The Messenger Studio in Henderson, Nevada along with recently recruited drummer Matt Norcross to begin recording a demo; they recorded two tracks: “Mr. Brightside”, which was the first song Flowers and Keuning wrote together, and “Desperate”. A month later they recorded two more, “Under the Gun” and “Replaceable”, with Keuning’s roommate Dell Neal on bass.
This was the raw start for The Killers. There is nothing like that moment when two musicians get together in search of something larger. Thus the foundation for The Killers was being constructed right there in Las Vegas. Two young musicians with music in their hearts and a vision in their minds.
Keuning and Flowers played their first live show together at an open mic night at the Cafe Espresso Roma in Las Vegas in January 2002; the pair, joined by Neal and Norcross, began playing venues around the city where they would also hand out free copies of their demo. The Killers brought a unique style to the small Vegas music scene which was predominately filled with punk, nu metal, and rap bands; one local reviewer stated, “The Killers, thankfully, don’t come across like any other band in town” and described their sound as a mix between the “pop styles of British music and the lo-fi fuzz of modern indie rock”.
When I listen to much of the early music of The Killers, I understand the description. Of course, they have a sound that has evolved after close to seventeen years together, but they certainly are unlike most bands who emerged at the time. Nevertheless, the winds of change stirred as the band fired drummer Matt Norcross and replaced him briefly with Brian Havens, who also was eventually fired. Bassist Dell Neal later left the band due to personal reasons.
Ronnie Vannucci Jr. joined The Killers shortly before Neal’s departure. Vannucci was well-known on the Las Vegas music scene, having played in many bands since he was young. It was while he was drumming for other bands including Daphne Major and Romance Fantasy in 2002 that he had met The Killers. Ronnie’s first show with the band was on August 30, 2002, at a club called The Junkyard. Playing bass for The Killers that night was Mark Stoermer, who was at this point the lead guitarist for local progressive rock band The Negative Ponies. The band was keen on Stoermer joining them on a permanent basis, but he was initially reluctant to commit. He finally joined The Killers.
According to Ryan Pardey who booked many of the band’s early shows “They (The Killers) became a great band when Ronnie and Mark joined. That’s when they finally became a cohesive unit. What Ronnie did — he was the discipline — and Mark was just a solid musician”. As a music historian it is always a great thing when a band can point to that moment when everything finally came together.
It wasn’t long before they caught the attention of Braden Merrick, an A&R rep for Warner Bros. Records who had come across their demo on a website dedicated to unsigned bands in the Las Vegas area; after attending a live show he offered to help the band find a record deal and eventually became their manager. He took the band to the San Francisco area, to Berkeley, California, to record demos with former Green Day manager Jeff Saltzman, they then sent the demo tapes out to major record labels in the US. The band was invited to perform at a number of showcases but were ultimately not signed, the band however did catch the eye of Alex Gilbert, who was an A&R rep from the United Kingdom. Gilbert took a demo with him back to the UK and showed it to his friend Ben Durling, who worked at the newly formed Independent label Lizard King Records in London. Despite not yet meeting the band in person, Lizard King were quick to offer the band a deal based on the strength of the five song demo. The Killers signed with the British label in July 2003. The band had finally arrived.
After a very successful period of music, The Killers released their fifth studio album on September 22, 2017, by Island Records titled Wonderful, Wonderful. The album is a collection of exceptional songs that push The Killers to even greater heights than they reached before. As I listened to the album it seemed like The Killers had arrived on the scene again. It was like they were reintroducing a more powerful and better band. Writing a four-star review for NME, Barry Nicolson said, “As a songwriter, Flowers has never been particularly guarded about himself – he’s neurotic, driven, sentimental and sometimes corny – but he bares more on ‘Wonderful Wonderful‘ than ever before, and the result is the band’s best album since 2006’s ‘Sam’s Town‘. It might get lonely at the top, but The Killers aren’t going anywhere just yet.”
I also believe there is a lot more music left in The Killers. They are “double-clutching” in a way. Make sure you download or stream this fine album. If you are not familiar with The Killers get some of their previous works and make your own comparisons. I’m sure you will hear a band striving to be better with every album.