Killers – Hot Fuss (180g Vinyl LP)

It was the summer of 2004, the musical landscape was awash with glitchy electro-pop, disco-fueled punk and slick dance music. Hot Fuss, the major label debut from Vegas synth-indie outfit The Killers, premiered in June of that year in the US, peaking at the No. 7 spot on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 in the UK where it was released a week later. Cutting through the rest of the alt-rock noise that was pulsating at the time, The Killers co-existed as a guitar-driven indie band and a neo-new-wave synth-pop act with a cover-ready frontman in Brandon Flowers.

An ambitious debut to say the least, the album is chock-full of rock anthems that were destined for stadiums. Having grown up singing along to his Brit-rock idols, Flowers’ inflected vocals belied his musical leanings and the band was especially adept at distilling their various influences into radio-ready hits for the next generation. As Flowers told Spin in 2009, “Hot Fuss was all based on fantasy. The English influences, the makeup – they were what I imagined rock was.”

A1 Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
A2 Mr Brightside
A3 Smile Like You Mean It
A4 Somebody Told Me
A5 All These Things That I’ve Done

B1 Andy, You’re A Star
B2 On Top
B3 Change Your Mind
B4 Believe Me Natalie
B5 Midnight Show
B6 Everything Will Be Alright