The Killers - Pressure Machine (8.13.21) Album • Page 61

I was just wondering about Weezer the other day, this is the quietest they’ve been about new music since before EWBAITE

 

They did just do a major anniversary tour tbf

 

I am so glad I’m not a Weezer fan. I would hate to have to sift through all the rubble seeking for one or two gems.

 

I needed this weezer gap after sznz

 

For sure. Because it’s art. But you yourself said that WW was a lackluster album but worth it just to get Some Kind of Love.

I disagree that WW was worth it based on that - becuase that track is good but not that good to me - and because I prefer a smaller discography of high quality albums over a large discography of low quality albums with one or two gem tracks hidden in each.

 

Honestly, that's a top 5 Killers song for me, lol.

I don't think I said WW was lackluster, either. I like that album. Made my top 200 of the 2010s. I think it's doing some really interesting things thematically, digging into family and marriage and masculinity and what it means to be there for your partner through an extremely trying time, that most of their albums don't even try for. I said it was their weakest, but that's because I really like this band and all their albums!

 

Sam Fender’s new song would be very appreciated by this thread.

 

The thing is, it feels like the last gasp of that mindset was The Man, and the Killers have moved on to being comfortable in the lane they've carved out for themselves. Like, what were the commercial expectations on Pressure Machine, released less than a year after Imploding the Mirage and before they'd even toured that record? On top of having no obviously catchy lead singles, and the whole album dropping at once. All signs point to that being an experiment that they're proud of and had minimal commercial expectations - maybe hope for a more serious critical appraisal, which they got (although no Grammy nominations which I get the impression Brandon cares about).

My impression is that, having found it inspirational to have big common threads to grasp onto for Imploding and Pressure Machine, Brandon's holding out on that for the next Killers album, especially if a lot of his writing in 2023 was a for a solo record (please let that be released this year!). I quite like Brights Lights as a showy advert for their Vegas residency, but it's about as deep as a puddle and imo a bit underwritten (especially the bridge) compared to the Killers' best stuff.

There's also been a few interviews where's Brandon's suggested he wants the next Killers album to have the four OG members working on it again, probably given some good vibes from the run of successful shows with Dave (and Mark for the Vegas shows).

I've also heard a few of the other songs they made during the Boy sessions, and it's indeed enough to have made a decent synthpop EP about Brandon growing up in Nephi with big dreams and girl trouble. But fair enough if they and the label thought the timing would've been confusing alongside Rebel Diamonds.

 

Yeah it’s a bit unfair, but the demos that I’ve heard from the purported album sessions didn’t really excite me.

 

I just liked how loose that 2020-2021 period felt. OG members were cycling out, so they made the band this shifting collective of musicians, leaning hard on collaborators like Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado, or calling in favors from the likes of Lyndsey Buckingham or Adam Granduciel or Blake Mills or the Dawes guys to fill out the lineup. It was fun to watch how those outside influences took them in new, exciting directions. Obviously, getting the original lineup back intact is exciting too, but I had hoped they'd just keep riding with that more amorphous version of The Killers for awhile and making experimental stuff along the way.

 

Went through Wonderful, Wonderful this morning for the first time in a while and outside of a handful songs (Rut, Run for Cover, Tyson vs Douglas, Life to Come) I don’t really feel myself ever needing to return any time soon lol

 

Money On Straight is the best song on the album

 

To be fair if I didn’t love the album I probably wasn’t going to actively seek out the deluxe lol - I’m listening to that song now and I can’t remember if I’ve even heard it before!

 

The core of that album ("Rut" through "Some Kind of Love") is great. The other songs aren't as good, though I do dig "The Calling."

 

yeah, I was kinda being an ass - I don't actually think it's the best song, but it is definitely better than a handful of songs that did make the album. I'd probably say "Rut" is the best song, followed by "Some Kind of Love"

I do not like the closer at all, and I remember being pretty excited when I heard that Mark Knopfler was gonna feature on guitar with them on a song

 

The issue with Wonderful Wonderful is that it's a decent-to-great EP (with a resonant theme of reframing one's sense of masculinity against the needs of your partner), padded out with vaguely-Killers-ish fluff that doesn't really fit, to qualify as an album. It makes sense given that this was reportedly Brandon's most significant period of writer's block in his career (somewhat unsuccessfully angsted over in Have All the Songs Been Written from the album itself).

 

I could take this as a really listenable EP:

The Man
Rut
Life To Come
Wonderful Wonderful
Some Kind of Love

 

Big Dreams and King of Neverland really grew on me, especially the latter as there's not much in the Killers discog that's both synthy and dark/moody. Add that to the three that ended up on Rebel Diamonds, maybe even We Did It In The Name Of Love as well, and it's a consistent 80s-inspired listen for me.

 

good friends, fellow Killers fans, where are we hearing these....??? and can I hear them too pretty please?!?!?!?!??

 

Battle Born is my favorite Killers album lmao

 

One day I hope to be won over by it! My biggest issue these days is that, everything that in theory makes Battle Born good, Imploding The Mirage does better.

I'll give you Be Still, that's the best Killers ballad imo

 

RSD EP of that encore performance with Bruce Springsteen coming on April 12th.

 

Was hoping to get tix to see these guys for the first time in a decade today, but alas, not a single decent seat available. Only options are $300 VIP or $60 lawn which is way too far away for that price.

 

knew tickets were gonna go quick on that show. they’ve still somehow never played a show in Buffalo or Rochester in their career. this is the closest they’ve ever come besides Toronto.

also weird they they’re playing the 10k cap shed and glass animals are playing the 24k cap venue 40mins away on the same night. feel like those should’ve been swapped, shows were announced the same day too.

 

i see it's approaching the 10th anniversary of The Desired Effect. I'm not sure how likely it is, but some sort of solo Brandon update would be great.