The Killers - 'Day and Age' (Vertigo) Released 24/11/08

At this point things get strange. Whoever thought of covering ‘Joy Ride’ in the sort of saxophone that even Duran Duran would reject for being too smug deserves a medal: countless attempts later and it’s still genuinely uncomfortable to listen to. The steel-pans and brass of ‘I Can’t Stay’ have a similar effect; what should be a warning against indecision just sounds too content to work. Elsewhere the closing duo of ‘The World We Live In’ and ‘Goodnight, Travel Well’ just meander their way through several minutes of bland statements and even blander music. The former trudges to the five-minute mark (it’ll be the moment where most people head to the bar during next year’s mega-gigs) while the latter is a close cousin – albeit a rubbish one - of ‘Climbing Up The Walls’, only coming to life in a pretty climax that doesn’t quite reward the journey it took to get there.

Aside from the opening trio the other highlights (it’s all relative) on ‘Day & Age’ include ‘Neon Tiger’ (the other track that sounds like it’s playing to the strengths of both Price and Flowers) and ‘A Dustland Fairytale’, which depicts a romance set in an era long gone. Written larger than the end of a big-budget Disney film, the sentiment is trite but the sincerity isn’t lacking. ‘This Is Your Life’ meanwhile begins with some chanting that wouldn’t sound out of place on a later Talking Heads album, with Brandon’s cries of “wait for it” one of the few times his vocal sounds genuinely impassioned. For a band associated with the sort of songs that take up residence in your head there’s a surprising lack of out-and-out singles; that initial salvo is something of a red herring and admittedly raises expectations for a second ‘Hot Fuss’ that fails to materialise. What we get certainly isn’t predictable, but neither is it particularly successful.

The frequent scale of ridiculousness in the music has always been an endearing facet of The Killers, one largely forgiven perhaps because the band – unlike, say, Razorlight - have always seemed to be in on the joke from the start. So for example the idea of ‘Glorious Indie Rock & Roll’ may be embarrassing in principle but the underlying tone of wide-eyed innocence and the band’s naivety carried it through. Unfortunately it's on ‘Day & Age’ that this winning mentality of being bravely unashamed and not bothered about looking stupid becomes separated from the knack of writing good songs; there are too few moments of genuine inspiration, and nothing with the poignancy of a ‘Smile Like You Mean It’. Sure it’s pop, but for all the experiments and forays into new territories, there’s not a lot here that’s smart.