Talks like a gentleman, like you imagined when you were young

There's more than a little of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in Sam's Town, the second and latest album from the Killers, and that's probably not unintentional. From the pomp-and-circumstance close to the title track that recalls Pepper's orchestral touches to the matching tracks that bookend the album's bulk (named, in somewhat effete fashion, "Enterlude" and "Exitlude") and recall Pepper's title tracks, Sam's Town seems to be trying hard to be important. Of course, it isn't really, and a Beatles comparison does a disservice to both bands, but that doesn't mean Sam's Town isn't a pretty strong album - it's just not great in any life-altering sense.

For what it's worth, Brandon Flowers and company do manage to shed most of the lackluster parts of Hot Fuss, an outstanding debut album with five great tracks and six decent ones. It had a bit too much of a rave-pop sentiment, though, spearheaded by "Somebody Told Me," a song that was fine but kind of silly on reflection. Sam's Town doesn't totally abandon the musical trappings of Hot Fuss, but they're less in evidence, thanks in large part to the first single. "When You Were Young" steps out of the club and into an arena rock concert, with blasting chords and a glistening main riff, and it's catchy as all hell. It's also in exactly the right place on the album - the titular opening track is fine, but fans can be excused for thinking they'd accidentally picked up the Killers' excuse for Sufjan Steven's The Avalanche. "Enterlude" hangs around just long enough to lull everyone into complacency, and "Young" swoops in like a thunderclap.

Regrettably, the promise exhibited by "Young" dissipates a little bit over the rest of the album. As with Hot Fuss, there isn't a bad track in the stable, but the remainder aren't as catchy for the most part. If "Young" is this album's "Mr. Brightside," it's hard to argue that there's anything measuring up to the stellar "All These Things That I've Done." The catchiness factor in the latter half of Sam's Town is generated mostly by "Why Do I Keep Counting?", which has a monster refrain but is hiding down at track eleven (though that's probably the best place for it; I think I might like it even better as an album closer), and the bridge of "Uncle Jonny," a stinging, moody song that bursts into major chords for a few lines before winding down again.

This isn't to say that the other tracks aren't very good - "Read My Mind" and "My List" are both quite strong, and none of the others have anything really wrong with them aside from the title of the stupidly-named "Bling (Confession of a King)," which is a much better song than its title would indicate. They're not particularly sticky, though, and where Fuss had five great songs, Town can probably only claim two, though its second-tier tracks are closer to the top than any on Fuss were.

Really, though, the Killers were in an untenable position from the start, as summed up by Bill Simmons in a recent mailbag column - "If they release another album that sounds like the last one, everyone kills them for not being original. If they go in another direction, everyone fumes that they didn't release another album like the last one. So successful bands have one of two choices -- keep shifting gears and taking chances, or convince the lead singer to shoot himself or accidentally drown so they will live on forever and everyone can talk about how great they were. I'm glad they chose the first option."

And I am too. The worst thing you can say about Sam's Town - aside from taking a shot at its slightly inflated sense of self-importance - is that it's just not as great overall as Hot Fuss was, and since most bands would kill to have one album as enjoyable as Hot Fuss, I think that's pretty good. Frankly, the Killers could put out ten more albums that were two awesome tracks and ten listenable ones and I'd be there every two years.

So if you liked Hot Fuss at all, I suggest giving Sam's Town a shot. If you don't let a ton of hype get your expectations too high, I think you'll like what you hear just fine.

Grade: B+