The Killers – Wonderful Wonderful

Indie Rock

74%

Once upon a time being the biggest band in the world and producing classic albums went hand in hand, however the same is no longer true of today. The current biggest bands in the world, those that headline major festivals year after year (Muse, Foo Fighters etc.), are a force of nature live, and have more hits than most bands could even dream of, but are downright shoddy when it comes to albums. They’re lucky to get one record that could be remotely considered a classic, in this instance being their debut Hot Fuss. The difference is however that The Killers have made an effort to work on their flaws after the lacklustre Battle Born. While Wonderful Wonderful doesn’t immediately jump out at you as a classic, it’s certainly their best work for a good few years.

The title track is perhaps their most expansive work yet, ‘Have All The Songs Been Written?’ is reminiscent of Dire Straits, while the disco tinged ‘The Man’ is a worthy addition to their enviable collection of hits. The verses on ‘Run For Cover’ stumble haphazardly around the overly ambitious vocabulary but are more than made up for by the Springsteen-esque hooks. It’s ‘Tyson vs Douglas’ though that stands out to me as the record’s buried treasure, a track with massive hit potential while also growing on you over time. Wonderful Wonderful as a whole is a grower; not in the sense that you’ll like it more with a few extra listens, but in that people will look back on it in a few years as some of The Killers’ most refined, mature and considered output. The album has its flaws, but the extra work they’ve put in really shows and I’m hopeful it will spark the start of an upward trend, with better and better albums to follow.