The Killers

These Las Vegas-based Anglophiles serve up ambitious, drama-laden indie pop with touches of synthetic glam and plenty of romantic longing. You can hear echoes of the Strokes, Pulp and even that U2 period when Adam Clayton had an afro. "All These Things That I've Done" is the band hitting its early stride.

Don't be fooled by their retro threads and the the in their name: The Killers threaten to pry
dance rock from the steely grip of hipsterdom and thrust it unrepentantly into the
mainstream. The Rapture are artier, and Franz Ferdinand are more, well, Scottish, but this
Las Vegas band has actual pop songs -- in spades. A nightclub anthem in the making, the
acid-tongued "Somebody Told Me" blasts into outer space on a wave of synthesiz... More >

If only A Flock of Seagulls could do their hair ("Jenny Was a Friend of Mine," "Somebody Told Me"). (Grade - *)