The Killers‘ frontman Brandon Flowers and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. spoke to Noisey about fatherhood, coming out with their first album in five years, and the idea of a rock band going big in 2017, as the saturation of readily available music and the de-centralization of media’s gatekeepers have made it a bit harder for a band to break out into the mainstream in the 13 years since Hot Fuss. According to Flowers, the reason for this is simple: “There hasn’t been anybody good enough.”
Do you think a band like yours could gain similar traction in the present day? |
Flowers: It could happen—but there hasn’t been anybody good enough. If there was a band like the Strokes, or Interpol, people would talk. [Points outside to Brooklyn] If there were some kids out there right now playing “Obstacle 1” tonight, I would hear about it, you would hear about it.
But there isn’t.
Vannucci, Jr. was there to sharpen Flowers’ blow: “People are very quick to blame a changing of the times for a lot of things, when it’s really that they’re just not good enough yet.”
The Killers’ new album Wonderful Wonderful, which will presumably be good enough, drops September 15.