Killers - Hot Fuss

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 16 / 10 / 2004

Label: Select Label
Format: N/A

intro

Released in June of this year, Las Vegas’ act the Killers debut album, ‘Hot Fuss’, has brought the band much acclaim and continues to sell well. Anthony Strutt explains why it is one of his records of the year

Released in June of this year, Las Vegas’ act the Killers debut album, ‘Hot Fuss’ is still selling by the bucketful. It will be in NME’s Albums of the Year and also is one of my records of the year. The album opens up with ‘Jenny Was a Friend of Mine’ , which has the best bass line since Andy Rourke’s bass line on the Smiths ‘Barbarism Begins at Home’. ‘Jenny’ sounds immediately friendly and familiar, and will have you dancing around your room in no time whatsover. ‘Mr Brightside’ follows next. It was the band’s first single, and, then when it was re-recorded in a new version for the album, it was re-released as their third single and got them into the charts and the hearts of the UK pop kids. ‘Somebody Told Me’ is the band’s second single, and is due too to be re-released, possibly in a newly recorded version, as their next single, which is due out in January of 2005. ‘All TheseThings That I’ve Done’ follows and is slow and moody. It has a firm groove to it and is a good sing-a-long number. ‘Andy, You’re a Star’ has a Who ‘Can’t Explain’ style and then adds some cool 80’s synthesisers on top along with a slow vocal. It sounds very like the Cure. The swaggering ‘On Top ‘ meanwhile recalls Trio’s ‘Da Da Da’ single from the 80’s, which was also later covered by Elastica. ‘Glamorous Indie Rock ‘n’ Roll’ is a bit corny, to be honest, but no doubt will have indie kids singing along to it. ‘Believe Me, Natalie’ has Bunnymen-ish guitars, a Cure like synth and ends with some brass. For some reason it also reminds me of the Icicle Works. ‘Midnight Show’ is fast and has a similar bluster to early U2. It sounds a lot like ‘Somebody Told Me.’ "Hot Fuss' ends with the slow-paced ‘Everything Will Be Alright’ which has a moody Cure-like vocal and ends the album pleasantly and upon a soft note.

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