popwreckoning

A lot of mystery has surrounded the release of the Killers‘ Ronnie Vannucci‘s solo project – what will it sound like, when will it be released, what does this mean for the Killers – but the answers are soon to be revealed.

Vannucci’s solo project Big Talk is due to release a self-titled album July 12 on Epitaph Records.The first single is “Getaways” and will be available May 10.

Though Vannucci has primarily served behind the drum kit for the Killers, he’s taking a step out into the spotlight by taking over vocal duties and other instruments. He already has a diverse musical history outside of the world famous rock band – playing with ska act Attaboy Skip and more recently performing on several tracks for indie rock group Mt. Desolation. Based on his impressive musical resume, this album is one to keep on your radar.

Vannucci’s friend and former bandmate Taylor Milne joined him in the studio and will play lead guitar for Big Talk’s live show. Dates have not been released yet, but Big Talk is expected to announce a summer tour with a full band.

The album is available for pre-order now at www. epitaphstore.com. Stay up to date with Big Talk at bigtalkmusic.com.

So apparently, I have a bit of a reputation of being a Killers lover. This label was only reinforced by last week’s Under Cover: The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.” In my defense, I would like to say that I’m not one of those fan girls who has scribbled Mrs. Brandon Flowers all over my notebook (it wouldn’t matter; he’s married) and my love for the Killers is a lot more practical than how “hott” I rate him. No, I honestly can admit that what I appreciate about this band is a lot deeper than that. I actually love them for…their music! These guys are good musicians, so instead of doing another Under Cover where I look at other artists covering this band, I wanted to let them shine. Besides, with the rumors of a Killers cover album looking more and more like a reality, the public had better start getting used to this band doing covers. Now they’ve done plenty more than what I listed here including covers of The Beatles, Frankie Valli, Morrissey, Kenny Rogers, David Bowie and the Nebraska State Song. I’ve even heard that singer Brandon Flowers likes to cover Bonnie Tyler‘s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” when doing karaoke (links, anybody? I need footage!), but here I’ve listed some of my favorite Killers covers.

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The Dire Straits’ “Romeo and Juliet” / 2007 – Abbey Road Acoustic Sessions

In 1981, The Dire Straits released “Romeo and Juliet” as a single from their album Making Movies. It quickly became one of their most successful and well-known singles and, like most good singles, spurred the creation of several covers. The Killers first covered this song live as part of their Abbey Road Sessions before later releasing it on their B-side album Sawdust. Front man Brandon Flowers described this song as “one of the best songs I’ve ever heard” and I couldn’t agree more. This is my favorite Dire Straits song and I love the version the guys put together of this song. The Killers have a reputation for being over the top with glitz and glam, probably a result of growing up in Vegas, but this cover stays true to the simplicity of the Dire Straits instrumentation and guitarist Dave Keuning is the perfect man to play those classic arpeggiated guitar notes that define the song. It is all abetted by the rawness of Flowers’ voice. It’s kind of fun because he has a bit of a twang that you wouldn’t expect from him considering he usually has a reputation of sounding too British.

Flowers was actually sick during the recording of the Abbey Road Sessions, but I think it added a vulnerability to his voice that was perfect for the rendition of this song. For me the highlight of this is when he belts the line, “Juliet, when we made love, you used to cry I said, ‘I love you like the stars above, I love you till I die.‘ The rest of the song after that is almost sung in a whisper.

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Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” / 2008 – Live @ Little Noise Sessions, Union Chapel

Some bands just wanna have fun. And that’s exactly what the Killers did for their cover of Cyndi Lauper‘s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” I like this because bassist Mark Stoermer switches out his bass for a guitar and gets really into it (as in never looks up into it). This cover surprises me because they went acoustic instead of for their trademark Hot Fuss synth heavy sound, which the song loans itself toward. Though it is a simple cover, it is complex in the idea that the band didn’t go the obvious route with how to cover it.

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Joy Division’s “Shadowplay” / 2007 – Control Soundtrack

Now what would this cover section be if I didn’t include perhaps the band’s most famous cover: Joy Division‘s “Shadowplay”?  “Shadowplay” was originally recorded by Joy Division for the 1979 album Unknown Pleasures. In 2007, a biopic, Control, about Joy Division’s lead singer Ian Curtis was set to be released. The remaining members of Joy Division, aka New Order, actually picked the Killers to do the cover for the film, which played during the credits. This was a huge honor for the Killers considering the band is heavily influenced by both Joy Division and New Order. In fact, the band’s name comes from New Order’s video for “Crystal,” in which New Order is under the guise of a fictional band called the Killers in the video. As further tribute to New Order, the Killers often play as fictional bands in their own videos (The Genius Sex Poets and Los Dientes del Perro).

This cover even had a music video made with clips from the movie mixed in. However, for me, it isn’t the studio recording that sticks in my head, but the live version. It became a tour staple for the Sam’s Town run and is still performed by the band on their current Day and Age tour. With the Killers’ addition of “Ooh ooh oohs” and fist pumping, this cover kept the mood set by Joy Division, but took it to anthem levels.

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Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters Theme” / 1998 – Another EP?

So, this might be cheating, but this is too good of a cover to not share. In 1998, the Killers obviously were not around, but the individual members were still quite busy making music in other bands. Drummer Ronnie Vannucci was a member of some groups that met with some moderate success. Personally, I was a big fan of his ska punk group Attaboy Skip, which fans of NOFX would actually enjoy a lot. In fact, the band is actually confused with NOFX a lot and this particular cover can be found wrongly attributed to NOFX on YouTube. This aforementioned cover is none other than “Ghostbusters Theme.” I seriously couldn’t think of a better song that a punk group with brass could cover than this theme. Hilarious. Vannucci drives the band into double time at the end giving the theme their own personal spin.

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The Killers: website | myspace | Sawdust review | under cover: “Mr. Brightside” | @ magness arena | Day and Age review