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Winner of Best International Group and Best International Album at this year's Brits, The Killers have earned massive critical acclaim for their album Sam's Town... 'Read My Mind' is the third sigle from the album and brought them further chart success on its release in March 2007.There's nothing quite as funny or predictable as seeing a comment saying "they should listen to this band... the electro music nowadays spoiled the music industry." on a YouTube video of a song that starts with a 15-second synth chord, is there?
Though they lack(ed?) the tricksiness of Fall Out Boy, the Killers have always been one of those bands I find it all but impossible to like, even when I know they're good. There's just something about the way their records sound that repels me just slightly: not to the extent that I actively avoid them (at least not until they've been massively overplayed) but just enough to stop me really enjoying the experience. Actually seeing them doesn't improve matters either, because they always come over as just that little bit too self-consciously presented for maximum marketability; the fact that they grew beards when they released the more serious second album is a case in point.
When I'm honest with myself, 'Read My Mind' is one of their better songs. It's not hugely original but it gets points for the relative subtlety of the chorus and its tidy structure. It's quite satisfyingly produced too, although for me the final mix is a little too glossy. The main problem comes in the form of frontman Brandon Flowers. He presumably wrote the lyrics which form the weakest part of the composition, lapsing too often into clicheed and seemingly unconnected imagery: and unfortunately when his voice cracks on the high notes ("before you jump, tell me what you find") it just makes me think of that spotty teenager character in the Simpsons who's usually working in the Krusty Burger or something. That's a big problem in a song that otherwise seems so keen to be taken seriously, especially when Flowers yodels his little Bono impression at the end.
Also appearing on: Now 60, 61, 65, 68, 72
Available on: Sam's Town
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