Prime fop and erstwhile Killers frontman Brandon Flowers has never been one for subtlety and so is the case with his solo debut album 'Flamingo' (named for the casino district in Las Vegas where he grew up). So musically it's a bit of a kitchen sink affair with widescreen synths vying for space with stadium guitars, dramatic strings and all matter of percussion. Lyrically too the confirmed Mormon is all fire and brimstone, vengeful gods and epic, doomed romances all seen through his reliably cryptic veil. Of course much the same could have been said of all 3 of the Killers studio albums and yet despite the arch campness, tongue in cheek lyrical bent and overall air of pretentiousness Flowers way with a killer hook is undeniable and much the same can be said of his most recent venture.
Essentially it's a Killers album made without the Killers (though guitarist Dave Keuning and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr do make sporadic appearances) and even Flowers himself has admitted the only reason it didn't end up as a Killers album is because the others 'needed some time off'. This was possibly a blessing in disguise though as Flamingo allows Flowers to be more personal and direct and really let his freak flag fly in such left field oddities as the doom laden 'Playing With Fire' and the sparse, church choir symphony of 'On The Floor'. Of course that's not to say he's abandoned his pop persona, in fact this is a pop album in every sense of the word.
Lead single 'Crossfire' (which itself would have sat quite comfortably on the Killers 'Sam's Town' album) is indicative of the album as a whole in that it's a blustery, chest beating and anthemic synth-pop triumph which wouldn't have sounded out of place of Bruce Springsteen's 'Tunnel Of Love' album. The opening 'Welcome To Fabulous Lag Vegas' too is essentially Sam's Towns title track mark 2.0, it makes no protestations to be anything but though as our protagonist "wakes up in the dusted frame of a burned out old deville" and a classic american soft-rock song rolls into focus. 'Only The Young' meanwhile recalls the epic balladry of 'All These Things I've Done' albeit with more restrained instrumentation. In fact almost every song on Flamingo can be traced back to a specific moment in the Killers career, but this is hardly surprising, no-one expected Flowers to pull off a Thom Yorke or Peter Gabriel style reinvention. In fact if anything Flowers solo album has more in common with Mick Jagger's solo records in that it sounds almost identical to his band work but not quite.
It's missing some of the Killers true grandeur and there's a couple of stinkers ('Magdelena' is truly dire) but overall beautiful songs such as 'Hard Enough' (a stunning lament written in the wake of Flowers mothers recent passing) and strident pop numbers like 'Was It Something I Said?' reveal Flowers as a master songsmith who can adapt and bloom in any weather.
Strength comes from our bones – the knowledge that, deep down, nothing is impossible. 'Bones', the stunning new single, and album of the same name, from Young Guns, captures exactly that: it's a hymn to bravery and boldness, the defining statement so far from one of our finest bands. ...read this news article
The first season of HBO’s epic prohibition drama is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on January 9th, and we have three DVD boxsets to give away.
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Blues Funeral, the new album by Mark Lanegan Band, is released on February 6th via 4AD. Lanegan's seventh long-player in an illustrious and colourful career, it is his first solo output since 2004's Bubblegum. ...read this news article
Grinderman are pleased to announce the release of 'Grinderman 2 RMX' – a collection of remixes, reinterpretations & collaborations based on the songs contained in the band’s 2010 critically celebrated album 'Grinderman 2'. ...read this news article
Ohio's hardcore mob The Devil Wears Prada take a step away from their busy tour schedule to talk about the UK, Zombie apocalypse plans, what they think of their fellow tour mates and what their plans are for the future!
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