The Killers have been mistaken for a British band, but Battle Born is a real slice of Americana. In fact, it is another essential Killers record! Brandon Flowers’ vernacular is ever flourishing and Dave Keuning’s guitars are given to flight. Together with bassist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Jr., their sound ever balances thrilling momentum and intimate moments with a fresh face and sincerity even four records into their career.
The exciting album opener, “Flesh And Bone,” delivers an invigorating, irresistible wallop with an anthem pace and prose like “Anointed by the blood, I take the reigns.” The Killers’ knack remains to illustrate epic, sobering truths into easy-to-swallow tablets.
The Las Vegas-based band burst onto the scene with the dancey “Somebody Told Me,” and some critics gave them low grades for such brilliant albums like Sam’s Town and Day And Age, perhaps wanting The Killers to be the Duran Duran of this millennium, but it becomes ever clearer that this stallion runs in its own track.
“Miss Atomic Bomb” moves with a bittersweet recollection. “Deadlines And Commitments” flirts with ’80s alternative nuances while “From Here On Out” swings with country sass, and despite the title-track baring a nod to Don McLean’s “American Pie,” it plays more to the brazen and triumphant side of the human spirit.
The perfectly groomed romance on “Heart Of A Girl” is enough to swoon over. Adding the tracks off Battle Born to a catalog that includes gems as varied as “A Dustland Fairytale” and “Read My Mind,” The Killers remain not only expansive, but bulletproof.
In A Word: Fighter
