By Jeff Clemens
Las Vegas is the home of sin, sex and–wait–Mormons? This is the home of the Killers and the place they have recorded their sophomore album Sam’s Town. Lead singer Brandon Flowers brought his group home to Las Vegas to make the greatest American record of all time.
He failed.
After their first album rocketed them to fame and hours of radio play, the Killers tried to change. There are no more musings on gender-neutral boyfriends or jealous imaginings. With that said, the album isn’t a horrific second offering–it’s just not as good as the first.The Killers still manage to include a little bit of their expected catchiness, but the rest shows the Killers as the opposite of the all-American band they want listeners to believe they are.
The album sounds like it was created with the intent of making it sound like a Euro-pop group trying to make American music. As could be expected, the results are confused. The album fits into great American music as well as a Mormon fits into sin city.