My Flirtation With Popular Music Culture

Screw you. I like The Killers, no matter what certain segments of society think. I readily ignore the annoying throngs of teenagers obsessed over what somebody told them. I prefer looking on the Brightside. Believe me Natalie; I adore The Killers like I mean it.

That bit of unnecessary lyrical recitation behind us, let’s get down to business (to defeat the Huns). Often, popular bands/items/people suffer a backlash from their popularity; in some circles, liking what’s popular becomes itself unpopular. Being popular is unpopular. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is Strength. If you, for some godforsaken reason, possess the gall to enjoy the music of a popular band, you will find yourself entirely fucked.

Yes, paradoxes suck - so do three bruises on your left arm received for humming “Somebody Told Me” one too many times back in the 7^th grade. I learned my lesson though - people in that “We’re too cool for the rest of American society” group have more muscle than I had previously thought. (I suppose I only believed the group weak because of my own physique)

The Killers essentially play pop rock. To many, a negative connotation accompanies the word pop. But to a person with an adequate (i.e. – not horrible) definition of the word, The Killers music is simply popular rock. It’s not bad rock – it’s not good rock – only popular rock. Of course, their first album, Hot Fuss, was admittedly not much more than a blend on a synthesizer and vocals kindly described as catchy. I wouldn’t deem the album jaw-dropping music, or even no-effect-on-the-jaw music. Musical heaven’s not close from album like this.

Nonetheless, the band had potential and it sure as hell wasn't confidential. I had braced myself for them, said “maybe”. I need to stop writing while listening to music. For some reason this paragraph has an uncanny resemblance a Killers song.

Unfortunately, my favorite songs from their debut album, “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr. Brightside”, soon became radio hits, thus rendering them worthless crap in the eyes of my little group (The “We’re too cool for the rest of American society” group). I had a decision to make - tell my friends to suck it and continue liking The Killers, or wilt in the face of the peer pressure presented by the anti-society society. Since I only had about three friends at the time, The Killers soon found themselves banished from my iPod, iTunes, and iBrain.

2006, however, brought a new beginning. The Killers produced an album, Sam’s Town, which was critically acclaimed but significantly less fawned over than Hot Fuss. Sam’s Town even garnered comparisons to Bruce Springsteen’s early work, all but assuring that Americans between the ages of 13 and 35 would never appreciate its value. I could finally sit back and listen to a band I enjoyed without worrying where I went wrong musically and lost a (the) friend. Few appreciated the complex societal messages of the title track, or the sheer awesomeness of "Read My Mind", a song Brandon Flowers called the best the band has ever written. Because of this, those songs flopped commercially relative to Hot Fuss hits. Life was good.

That is, life was good until Guitar Hero III and Rock Band simultaneously decided to put When You Were Young in their respective setlists. The dreadful result is occurring as you pretend to read this. After overexposure through those admittedly amazing games, The Killers classification will revert to pop rock. When that happens, I hope my “We’re too cool for the rest of American society” brethren forgive me. This time, I’ll ditch them. The Killers will remain on my iPod, nestled somewhere between Fall Out Boy and Nickelback. Even though they aren't so great.

I’m only kidding; Fall Out Boy is fucking awful.