The Killers' great gift is that they -- and in particular their frontman,
Brandon Flowers -- are drawn to camp, piecing together sounds that don't seem to belong together. All this weighed
the Killers down on
Sam's Town, their Americana theme park of a sophomore album, but on its 2008 sequel, Day & Age, the band shrinks the canvas and brightens its palette, opting for a big sound over big themes. Day & Age has style for miles and miles, exceeding even their debut,
Hot Fuss, in its stainless-steel gleam. If anything,
Hot Fuss was a little too monochromatic in its obsession with '80s synth rock, a criticism that can hardly be leveled at Day & Age, which stitches together sounds with an almost blissful abandon. Anchored in dance-rock though they may be,
the Killers no longer sound like mere disciples of
New Order and
Duran Duran: emboldened by the left turns of
Sam's Town,
the Killers will try anything, goosing "Losing Touch" with growling saxophones, creating a
Strokes disco for "Joy Ride," flirting with worldbeat à la
Vampire Weekend on "This Is Your Life," dancing the bossa nova on "I Can't Stay," and riding a tight, soulful rock & roll groove on "The World We Live In," bringing it close to a mad fusion of Steve Miller's "Abracadabra" and
Hall & Oates' "Private Eyes." Like before, it's impossible to tell if such improbable juxtapositions are intentional or accidental, but given the overall tightness of Day & Age, it feels as if
the Killers do indeed mean to create these oddly pleasing pop pastiches. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine