Hot Fuss

The Killers (00s): Brandon Flowers (vocals, synthesizer); Dave Kuening (guitar); Mark Stoermer (bass instrument); Ronnie Vannucci (drums).
Recording information: The Hearse, Berkeley, California (2004); Cornerstone Studios, Los Angeles, California (2004).
Although they are Las Vegas, Nevada natives, the Killers have more in common with the retro-New Wave sounds of New York City than with the casino crooners most often associated with Sin City. On HOT FUSS, the shaggy-haired quartet matches 1960s garage attitude and Strokes-like vocal swagger with a danceable, bass guitar-driven sound that pays lavish tribute to '80s pop heroes Duran Duran and Simple Minds. With "On Top," the combo adds the soaring, delay-laden guitars of U2 and the Fixx, while "Somebody Told Me" features a bouncy disco beat that recalls the Pet Shop Boys. Not content to be pegged as a retro-revival act, however, the Killers imbue each song on this fierce debut with a healthy dose of new-millennium rock snarl.

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