Day & Age

I always wondered how The Killers were so instantly brilliant. Brandon Flowers seemed to be born at his zenith, as if it was a constant state of evangelical fever that owned him. There was no early indie-EP, just a blaze of promotion and pop - as if manufactured at Island HQ.





It's unfair using a word like manufactured when Flowers is so interesting a rock star. Last time he sighted Springsteen for the black and white, fuzzed guitar of Hot Fuss, this time, on Day & Age it's surely The Pet Shop Boys - who for too long have been ignored by indie-scensters who've already gone through the Beach Boys, Depeche Mode and Fugazi.

The opener, Losing Touch, should be a single but won't be. Horns backed by thumping rhythm let Flowers begin with "console me in my darkest hours". It's safe to say his lyrics have rarely made any sense at all but it doesn't matter overly. Lennon and McCartney wrote some truly nonsense words, good pop has never relied on the lyrics but on the hook.

While we're talking hooks it's obvious to consider the lead single - Human. It's cracking radio pop that even manages to apparently reference Hunter S Thompson with it's refrain "are we human or are we dancer". And its bridge is perhaps the most obvious Pet Shop Boys reference across 10 tracks. There's plenty of air in the mix thanks to producer Stuart Price and that allows the psuedo-spiritual Flowers to fill the song.

Elsewhere A Dustland Fairytale shows off a classic Elton John piano ballad resplendent with an actual story - supposedly about Flowers' parents.

I dig The Killers because they're pop, because they're rock and most importantly because they're led by a charismatic rock star who makes it all matter even when it so clearly doesn't.

The Contenders - A List of 2008 albums

A long-list ahead of the short-list.

Portishead - Third
The Black Keys - Attack and Release
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
No Age - Nouns
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu - Gurrumul
Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
The Dodos - Visiter
Opeth - Watershed
The Donkeys - Living on the Other Side
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Willard Grant Conspiracy - Pilgrim Road
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Lucksmiths - First Frost
Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
You am I - Dilletantes
Augie March - Watch Me Disappear
Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Danielson - Trying Hartz

Steve Earle - Live

Usually I hear an album, love for it is rarely instant. I usually spin it once while wandering aimlessly between the kitchen and my study - the music is in the lounge room.

Four weeks before seeing Earle a friend gave me a copy of his Washington Square Serenade and a bunch of songs tacked on the end of the disc. I ignored it for three weeks then decided I'd best get familiar. It appeared a solid folk-rock album with a dash of country and funk in the catchy and seemingly mindless Satellite Radio.

I heard the LP again on the roadtrip to the gig, set between live Neil Young bootlegs and a dodgy bluegrass compilation. But it didn't register as anything glorious.

Earle walked on to the Enmore Theatre's stage about 9:30. Just a guitar and his greying beard to keep company. And he unleashed a phenomenal canon of songs that ranged from the now spiritual yelp of Satellite Radio to the fever of Transcendental Blues. It's rare for me to be won over by a live performance but Earle was and is undeniable. He is the rare singer-songwriter that plays alone. Too many seeming solo artists seem afraid to play on their own. Maybe they're afraid the songs won't stack up, maybe they know the songs are shit and need the protection of instruments. Earle knows his songs stack up. Part of that comes from playing for decades but it also arrives out of hard work - in every song the 30 songs that didn't make it can be heard.