"The Killers" are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001. The band's original lineup consisted of Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer, and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. They gained widespread popularity with their debut album, "Hot Fuss," which was released in 2004 and included hit singles like "Mr. Brightside" and "Somebody Told Me."
The Killers' music style combines elements of alternative rock, post-punk revival, and new wave. They have released several successful albums over the years, including "Sam's Town," "Day & Age," "Battle Born," "Wonderful Wonderful," and their most recent album 'Pressure Machine'.
This magazine cover in particular was released in August 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic. The band members are all wearing black, perhaps to keep in touch with their rock and punk style of music. Along with this, the cover features a quote from the band saying that 'people need music now more than ever...' hinting to the lock down that most people across the world were under. Underneath the bands name, the lines read 'with a stadium-ready new album but nowhere to play, can the indie rock'n'rollers weather the 2020 storm?' Here the cover advertises the bands new upcoming album, but also the struggles that they are bound to face by having nowhere to play. The rhetorical question suggests to their readers that there will be a sense of hardship that the band will have to overcome to remain successful in the industry while dealing with the restrictions the pandemic has levied against them.
While their website has the same structure as many other artists websites, it maintains the bands aesthetic with the colour scheme being black and white, perhaps nodding to the nostalgia that is often associated with the band.
After scrolling down the band advertises their most recent upcoming tour dates, and also gives the option to view all their tour dates.
On one section of their website called 'The Victims', which is placed alongside showtime, music, videos, photos and merchandise, is completely blank. 'The Victims' seem to be what the band call their fans, but the fact that the page isn't here yet allows for them to speculate and guess how the band is involving them.
"Mr. Brightside" is one of the bands most popular and iconic songs, and has become a massive hit and a staple in the alternative rock and indie music scenes.
The song's lyrics are about jealousy, insecurity, and the emotional turmoil of suspecting a romantic partner's infidelity and was by Flowers after his girlfriend cheated on him.. Despite its somewhat melancholic theme, the song's upbeat tempo and infectious chorus have made it a crowd favorite and a classic anthem.
The song's success helped propel The Killers to international fame and played a significant role in the popularity of their debut album.
The video is inspired by the film “Moulin Rouge” and thus is set in a burlesque show. The video tells the story of a love triangle between the lead singer, actor and actress
The video combines performance and narrative elements, as throughout the duration of the video the band is performing the song.
Arguably the video represents women in a negative way, with them being shown as duplicitous. Additionally the women also perform for the men, perhaps objectifying them. However, this could be done to represent the time period and era the video is trying to replicate. The men are wearing expensive suits and the women are wearing luxurious dresses. All the costumes are representative of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s; however they have a modern twist to relate to the age of the target audience, teens and young adults.
The video reflects the feeling of jealousy visually, as we have the two main men who both want the woman playing a game that the lead singer eventually loses, and flips over in anger. Additionally, the band appear to be less powerful in the video, as they are performing for the men, who are all sat watching in expensive suits.
The video has an element of mystery to it, as some parts of the video are purposefully blurred so that we are unable to see who the female lead is with. However, at the end of the video, Flowers leaves her and walks away making the decision for her.
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