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The Killers - Sawdust

Rating

RIYL

The Bravery
Muse
Franz Ferdinand
Interpol

Label

Island

Tracklist

1. Tranquilize (featuring Lou Reed)
2. Shadowplay (Joy Division cover)
3. All the Pretty Faces
4. Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf
5. Sweet Talk
6. Under the Gun
7. Where the White Boys Dance
8. Show You How
9. Move Away
10. Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll
11. Who Let You Go?
12. The Ballad of Michael Valentine
13. Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town (Kenny Rogers cover)
14. Daddy’s Eyes
15. Sam’s Town (Abbey Road version)
16. Romeo And Juliet (Dire Straits cover)
17. Change Your Mind (bonus track)
18. Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont’s Thin White Duke remix)

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Recent Ratings
Dave Spak

Sawdust is a very suspect release by The Killers. Coming only 13 months after the release of Sam’s Town, the album serves as a placeholder until their next record arrives. The typical gamut of filler material is here including covers, B-sides, new songs, and of course a remix of a fan favorite. These songs may hold fans over until the next full length but they don’t give much of an indication as to what direction the band is heading. The odd thing about this compilation is that is seems to pander to their fans who favored their earlier material and scoffed at their Bruce Springsteen influenced latest album. It makes one wonder if The Killers are trying to tell fans something by releasing this collection of unreleased songs.

The album starts off with the single “Tranquilize” which is a new song featuring Lou Reed. This song seems to be a throwback to their Hot Fuzz era songwriting complete with plenty of synth and static but catchy melodies. It’s a great lead-off song and single but unfortunately sets up the listener for a series of disappointments. If you are a Joy Division fan, I would greatly advise that you skip the cover of “Shadowplay” since it drains the original of its exciting sound and leaves it sounding painfully uneventful. When listening to some of the b-sides, it becomes very evident why they are b-sides. It’s not because their albums were overloaded with incredible songwriting and these songs just couldn’t fit anywhere on them; it is clear that a lot of these songs are simply throwaways.

It’s not a completely abysmal album, though. The record just suffers from the inconsistency of The Killers’ songwriting. Brandon Flowers’ lack of range also becomes apparent during these songs and you can hear him struggling to hit certain pitches. But there are still examples of the accessible pop that made the band so lovable and a household name. “Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf” is a surprisingly effective barroom rock song and demonstrates that Flowers is able write pensive and pleasing lyrics. Likewise, “Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll” is an all around great track which many are familiar with from the UK version of Hot Fuzz and the limited edition version in the US.

It’s no secret that the Killers are at their best when they are writing irresistible and catchy new wave influenced songs. The problem is that most of the time they are not writing said songs. This is not a compilation that will someday be a classic like The Smiths’ Hatful of Hollow. Instead, it reveals itself as nothing more than a release that is meant to keep fans listening to The Killers and buying their records. It’s certainly not going to garner any new fans since I can’t see the average listener being too impressed with a collection of inconsistent songwriting that runs over 70 minutes long. It will be interesting to see if this release was a clue that the Killers will be returning to a more synth-oriented sound again in the future. Songs like “Tranquilize” and “Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf” show that they are more than capable of writing great songs, but they just need to refine their sound.

--Dave Spak