Artist Profile: The Killers

Today's Artist Profile is one of the best bands of the oughts (2000's), The Killers! The Killers were formed in 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada and the band consists of Brandon Flowers on lead vocals and keys, Dave Keuning on guitars and backing vocals, Mark Stoermer on bass and backing vocals, and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. on drums. The band was formed after Brandon perused the ads in a local newspaper searching for a guitar player, and came across one who had similar musical influences who just happened to be Dave. The pair eventually met and began recording together as a duo, and played their first show in January 2002 at the Cafe Espresso Roma in Las Vegas. Ronnie joined the band in August of that year with Mark joining the ranks shortly thereafter. The band signed with Island Def Jam in 2003 and began work on their debut effort, Hot Fuss which saw the light of day in 2004. The album was an incredible commercial and critical achievement, selling over 3 million copies to date and producing such landmark tracks that have defined the modern alternative era like "Somebody Told Me", "Mr. Brightside", "Smile Like You Mean It",  my personal fave "All These Things That I've Done", and "Jenny Was A Friend of Mine". The band embarked on a lengthy stateside American and world tour following that.

The band's next effort Sam's Town, followed in 2006 and wasn't as successful as its predecessor, but did produce some memorable tracks in the form of "When You Were Young", "Bones", and "Read My Mind" on its way to platinum certification. The band's next effort Day & Age came in 2008 and was more warmly received by the press, containing such tracks as "Human", "Spaceman", and "A Dustland Fairytale". The band is planning to get back together later on this year to begin work on their next studio album with no firm timetable in sight for completion and release as of yet. When I first heard The Killers, I was immediately impressed with Brandon's voice and most importantly his character that he evoked in his songs with incredible charisma to add to the touch. A truly incredible band that I'm sure we haven't even heard the best of yet, and one that has plenty more potential of even greater success laying somewhere down the road.