Comments on The Killers

A nice music fan from Bath, England wrote a comment on The Killers piece which ran in yesterday's Night&Day section and I wanted to share it with you. Feedback is good for my writing and I encourage everyone to tell me when I'm full of it. Thanks, cn

Anonymous said...
Hi Chris, I'm a British Killers fan tracking you down after reading your piece in SignOnSanDiego.
Ironically its a warm sunny day here in Bath in the UK today,so before I go back outside I felt I had to respond to your comments.

Great writing style.Wouldn't want to face you in open debate given your deep knowledge of things musical,and as for the clinical way you deliver cutting remarks,boy,the band will feel they've been slashed by a 1000 samurai warriors!

As you might expect I take issue with your content-

-I lived through New Wave,nothing the Killers does reminds me of that era,whaever Brandon says.

-I thought mentioning The Buggles was a low blow!

-Hot Fuss and Sams Town are different,thank God, and I ,for one love 'em both.

-having seen them twice now ,the show is getting better and better.

-you'll love the show at UCSD !,although your pre-conceptions might get in the way.
My only criticism of the band is that there is no froth when they perform, they bang out the music, set themselves right, then bang out the next track. That's fine for the fans who follow them and know every track,not so good for "potential "fans who, I feel, would welcome a little acknowledgement from the stage and at times a bit of a back-story about the track that follows.
Still, who am I to say, each to his/her own!

I look forward to your review ,and if you are coming over for Glastonbury,come and see us in Bath ,we are only 20 miles away.Flights are cheap in June also !

P.S. I was last in San Diego for Superbowl xx11 ! Must be the bands oldest fan,no good for their image,eh!
-

10:10 AM


Chris Nixon said...
Hello to our friends in Bath --

Thanks for writing in and giving me feedback. It's just happens to be a cloudy day in San Diego with rain looming. I've gotten more feedback from this article than any I've written in a long time. There are lots of Killers fans out there who agree with you (using slightly more direct language), so I appreciate your "come let us reason" tone. A note on tone: This piece originally ran in the print edition of the Union-Tribune (in the weekly entertainment tab called Night&Day). The publication is going to a more "voice-driven" style, which includes less quotes from the band and more opinion-based writing. They want us to act more as critics than reporters. This is a new style for me so I'm still finding my feet.

That being said... I think you're comment about New Wave is justified. The original tsunami of New Wave encapsulized a pretty specific set of bands, including sub-genres like the New Romantics and . With time, the genre has broadened to include many different sub-styles and bands. Punk's the same way: A lot more bands are called and call themselves punk now than in 1980.

It's good to hear the Killers live show is getting better. I've seen them live and in person twice on a previous tour, and was not impressed. My paper (nor I) have the resources to send me to a show on this current tour, but I watched the band's recent half an hour show on Austin City Limits and dug around on YouTube for current live footage. I didn't get the sense that the live show had come a long way, but I definitely reserve the right to change my mind and hope these guys develop more of a stage presence.

But even if I rip on a band, it comes with the respect that these people are doing something artistic and creative with their lives and getting paid for it. So when you boil it down, it's pretty hard to criticize that way of living your life.

I also wanted to say that I have a deep love and appreciation for British bands and the musical knowledge of fans in the United Kingdom. Pardon the generalization, but music geeks in the U.K. know so much more about music from all over the globe than us here in the U.S. of A.

Thanks again for writing and the invitation to visit in Bath. I may have to take you up on your offer in the couple of years. Have fun at Glastonbury for me.

...And thank you for comparing me to 1,000 smaurai warriors. That may be the best compliment I've ever received.

Many thanks, Chris Nixon

Killers in the U-T

Can Killers regain form at UCSD? Stay tuned

By Chris Nixon

San Diego Union-Tribune

April 5, 2007

New Wave and the United Kingdom seem to go hand-in-hand.

The Killers' sophomore album, "Sam's Town," sold well in the U.S. and overseas but falls flat compared to the band's debut, "Hot Fuss." The UK can be a gloomy, cold place, with a penchant for all things musical. New Wave, a synth-driven pop style developed in the 1980s, is the antidote for English weather: just enough mope to relate to the rain and enough dance floor pop to get you through the day. From New Order to The Buggles to Duran Duran, Brits love New Wave.

Lying approximately 5,000 miles away from London, the newest wave of New Wave hails from the dry heat and sparkling glitz of Las Vegas. Rising out of the Nevada desert like a sequined impersonator wrapped in a Union Jack, Vegas band The Killers revives the classic New Wave sounds of the 1980s, gaining more love abroad than in the New World.

DATEBOOK
The Killers, with Howling Bells 8 p.m. Tuesday;

UCSD's RIMAC Arena, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla;

$41.50; (858) 534-6467

Born out of equal fascinations with Bono's iconoclastic frontman persona, The Edge's chiming guitars and Duran Duran's 1980s synth sounds, The Killer's version of New Wave plays better in the UK than in the States. The band's 2004 debut, “Hot Fuss,” caused a stir in Europe, propelling The Killers to No. 1 on the UK charts while going platinum (1 million sales) four times over in record sales.

Sporting singles like “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr. Brightside,” the crisp production and insanely hummable choruses caught crowds in the United States, too (No. 7 on the charts, triple-platinum sales).

Following the debut's critical attention and popular success turned out to be a tough task for singer Brandon Flowers, guitarist Dave Keuning, bassist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr.

The sophomore effort, “Sam's Town,” falls flat compared to the band's first disc. Gone are the infectious hooks. Present are Flowers' tendency toward whine and cheese.
Building on the popular momentum of “Hot Fuss,” “Sam's Town” sold well both stateside and overseas – platinum-plus in the States, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
But musically, the album falls far short of the band's early promise, an indication that just maybe, The Killers got too big too fast. Recent appearances on Austin City Limits and the 2005 Street Scene were far from electrifying.

As the spotlight fades and fickle crowds grow bored with rehashed retro nostalgia, The Killers might consider a relocation into favored territory. Flights to London are cheap this time of year.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Hand of a government man and the holy ghost

Thermals make music from a dark place

By Chris Nixon

San Diego Union-Tribune

April 5, 2007

God reached his hand down from the sky / He flooded the land then he set it afire, sings The Thermals lead singer Hutch Harris over the opening notes of the band's 2006 album “The Body, the Blood, the Machine.”

The Thermals rail against the church, the state and the status quo. The band, whose latest CD is "The Body, the Blood, the Machine," is at the Casbah tonight.Rife with religious imagery and apocalyptic visions, Harris and his partner, Kathy Foster (bass and drums), envision a future controlled by a government with no distinction between church and state.

“(The album is) about a government totally controlled by religion,” said Harris, speaking from his home in Portland, Ore. “I feel we're moving toward it more and more. (The album told) a fantastical tale that took it way into the future to a way-crazy paranoid place.”

With titles like “Pillar of Salt,” “St. Rosa and the Swallows” and “I Might Need You to Kill,” Harris paints a dark future through his lyrics. Under all the religious rhetoric, the band's trademark din of populist punk and Harris' accessible croon bring the message to the masses.

DATEBOOK
The Thermals

8:30 tonight;

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown;

$8-$10; (619) 232-4355

The Thermals certainly aren't the first punk band to rail against the church, the state and the status quo. Yet Harris admits on “Returning to the Fold”: But I still have faith.

“As a punk band, it's natural to write political songs,” said the singer-guitarist. “I was trying to write about what's controlling politics right now, what's pushing things in these directions and why are we focusing on these kinds of laws. Things like anti-abortion or anti-gay rights. It's because of religion, or Christianity specifically. It's kind of ridiculous when we're supposed to separate church and state in this country.”

“The Body, the Blood, the Machine” is The Thermals third album on SubPop Records, home to grunge bands Nirvana and lo-fi bands like Sebadoh in the 1990s. Along with The Shins, Band of Horses and San Diego's The Album Leaf, The Thermals are leading a new generation of bands on SubPop shaping popular alternative and indie music.

“We were raised on SubPop bands, from the grunge bands to the lo-fi bands,” recalled Harris. “The Shins had just put out their first album when we were signed, so SubPop had already started its rebirth. In our press kit, we described ourselves as 'Nirvana and Mudhoney meets Sebadoh and Eric's Trip.' We were really stoked to be on SubPop. All the inspiration for our band came from SubPop bands from the past.”

Harris and Foster also achieved another dream on the latest disc. Brendan Canty, drummer of the seminal post-punk band Fugazi, worked with the duo in producing the album's 10 thundering tracks.

“(Canty) was pumped and stoked to work on the record. He had a real good time,” said Harris. “He would turn the sound all the way up when we were mixing, to the point where I really couldn't stand in the room. I would stand in the door way and he'd just be jumping up and down laughing. It was a dream come true to work with him and have him get along with us so well.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.