All-Time Albums: #57

THE KILLERS Hot Fuss
(2004)

Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine 4:04
Mr. Brightside 3:43 (UK single, #10)
Smile Like You Mean It 3:54 (UK single. #11)
Somebody Told Me 3:18 (UK single, #3 on re-release)
All These Things That I’ve Done 5:02 (UK single, #18)
Andy, You’re A Star 3:14
On Top 4:19
Change Your Mind 3:11
Believe Me Natalie 5:07
Midnight Show 4:03
Everything Will Be Alright 5:45

The early Noughties were awash with young bands from the US of A paying tribute to the sounds of decades past; the period between 1977 and 1981 seemed to be especially popular. The Strokes, Interpol, The White Stripes…and then in 2004 came The Killers.

Coming on like a youthful Iggy Pop fronting a skuzzy Duran Duran, they had the looks, the moves, the bravado but most of all, the songs. Their debut, Hot Fuss, was chock full of brilliant hooks – from the Blur-esque lyric of Somebody Told Me (“you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend…”), the cheeky oops-nearly-said-it bitterness of Mr Brightside (“Now they’re going to bed, and my stomach is sick, and it’s all in my head, but she’s touching his….CHEST NOW”) to the anthemic All These Things That I’ve Done.

There are no fillers here, just killers. Of course it wouldn’t last.

Hot Fuss actually holds the record for most weeks on my personal album chart; 150 in total, and all of them consecutively. So, yes, you could say I was pretty into this record for a long time. I probably overplayed it, because I rarely go near the thing now.

Yet week after week, as 2004 turned into 2005, I never tired of these songs. The singles were obviously standouts, but any number of the other tracks were their equal. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine was a perfect opener, while On Top or Change Your Mind could easily have been 45s themselves.