The Killers – Hot Fuss

The first time I heard this lot was on Jonathan Ross' Friday night show. They ended the show and seemed to be there and gone too soon. Their song, the single 'Somebody Told Me' reminded me of the post-Punk period when Rotten&Co had stretched wide what was possible with music and a new sense of personality was being breathed into those thrashing chords.

I don't want to sound bigoted but I like the way this Californian band don't sound American. With such a huge market to please, Stateside popular music often drifts over to the bland end of the spectrum. This doesn't.

There is some fantastic music here, noteably the bass work of Mark Stoermer and Brandon Flowers' on vocals and synthesiser. You never seem to see Flowers at the keyboard and there is a distance between his voice and playing that makes it difficult to see the two pouring out of the same being. His playing has that raw, unsophisticated quality of the late 70s that fills the tracks out and gives the whole album such a refreshing edge.

I'll bring it round soon, Dan, but my kids are loving it. Can I borrow Franz Ferdinand?