The Killers are part Vegas, part Britain. Whatever. They do songs, not just hooks.
By BRIAN ORLOFF
Published November 18, 2004
The Killers, one of the year's most exciting new rock bands, hail from Las Vegas, a city not especially known for a hipster music scene. But with a tradition of showmanship from Elvis to Liberace to Celine Dion, Vegas offers plenty of inspiration - in theory - for the arty rockers.
"I guess," says drummer Ronnie Vannucci with a laugh. "We're embracing that (tradition) in a way. I just don't think we'll have tigers onstage any time soon."
Vannucci and his bandmates, bassist Mark Stoermer, guitarist David Keuning and singer Brandon Flowers, all in their early 20s, draw on British musical influences like Depeche Mode, David Bowie and the Cure, coloring their danceable synth-pop with a dark, brooding atmosphere. The Killers will blast through their kicky oeuvre in a Saturday show at the Masquerade in Ybor City.
The sound du jour is a resurgence of new wave sounds, with bands favoring icy synth-pop to the fuzzy guitar assaults that dominated the recent musical landscape (witness the White Stripes and the Strokes). But what distinguishes the Killers is taut, catchy songwriting. The electrifying single Somebody Told Me sports a big, sing-along hook. And Mr. Brightside is pure glamor.
Calling from Dublin, amid a breathless publicity blitz through Europe, Vannucci talks about the band's arresting debut, Hot Fuss, why it's cool to dance at a Killers concert and his former gig as a wedding chapel photographer.
Times: NME calls you the "Best British Band Not to Come From Britain." Are you guys all Anglophiles?
Vannucci: Basically we all had a real strong liking for a lot of British music. It was never any contrived thing. We never said we were going to try and sound British. In fact, we never thought we sounded British. It's mainly the media going to town on that. I mean, it makes sense because we have so many British influences, but it's not all there is.
Times: Talk about the '80s comparisons you get.
Vannucci: I think people are being interested in songs again. Yeah, the '80s had synthesizers and funny hairdos, but they also had songs. There's been such a deficit for songs in popular radio and pop music. . . . For a long time, I think that radio was just so reliant on hooks. And you can have hooks, but you still have to have a song there. And I think that's what people are attaching themselves to. If you want to call it '80s, well then, that's cool, but it's not all about the '80s. It's more about songs. Listen to Tom Petty, or listen to Blondie. Those groups had songs.
Times: There's this notion in hipster circles that it's uncool to dance, even if a song has a great beat. That seems kind of counterintuitive.
Vannucci: Every show we play, there's not just dancing, there are mosh pits going on, which I think is really weird. When you go to a show and the lights are on and everybody is watching everybody else - and not just the band - when people are very conscious of who's around them and what's going on, people stick to what's going on, what's cool with society.
Times: Hailing from Las Vegas, you're automatically removed from those scenes. Do you feel isolated from that community?
Vannucci: We were - and still are - separate. We're not from New York or Detroit or L.A. We're from Las Vegas, where nothing has really come out. The Crystal Method lives there now, and the lead singer from Quiet Riot lives there now. But that's it. So, yeah, in some ways I think it's made us try harder, work harder, improving what we do.
Times: What did you do before the Killers?
Vannucci: I was a wedding chapel photographer on the Strip. I did that for a couple of years. I'd shoot about 15 weddings a day. You meet people from all over the place. People looking for a convenient but decent way to get married, I guess.
Times: Was it an Elvis-themed chapel?
Vannucci: We didn't have an in-house Elvis, but he would show up if you beckoned.
PREVIEW: The Killers, 8 p.m. Saturday, Masquerade, 1503 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City. $12. (813) 287-8844, (727) 898-2100 or (813) 247-3319.
