| A prophet is
never appreciated in his hometown, or so said some famous Biblical guy. Unsurprising
then, that when asked if they were excited about local boys the Departure,
the resounding silence of the sold-out Northampton Soundhaus crowd was barely cracked by a
couple of doleful cheers. Uproarious applause for the Killers soon identified
which name sold the tickets. Maybe that has something to do with said local boys’
reticence to play local gigs or take advantage of local radio support, preferring
to cash in on the Holy Trinity of Steve Lamacq, Jo Whiley and (after their super-signing
to the label) Parlophone’s PR moguls to get their name known.
Fair enough,
but even the Prodigal Son had to come home eventually, and so the Departure had
a lot to prove even if half the crowd didn’t know it yet. The ensuing set full
of intelligent 80s New Wave-style guitar pop owing a little to Joy Division and
a lot more to Interpol proved they have their bubble-wrapped Franz Factor (forthcoming
single ‘You’ve Got It All Mapped Out’ plus white Winklepickers) to compliment
their five-album deal. No wonder the blessing of their fellow countrymen was low
on the agenda.
The Killers, on the other hand, came 4,000 miles
to show us how Indie should have turned out, had it not turned into the sound
of a bunch of curly-mopped Northeners whinging into their Wallabies. The irresistible
charm of the Las Vegas quintet’s Indie disco rock quickly took over even those
most Conceptual of Haircut and most Uber of Cool.
From over-earnest anthems
like ‘Smile Like You Mean It’ and ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ to the pop-perfection
of ‘Mr Brightside’, The Killers have managed to rescue the remnants of British
Indie, inject it with a truly ridiculous American optimism and drag it leagues
across the Atlantic in order to save our poor garage-rock fatigued souls. And
thank God for that. Relevant sites:
http://www.thedeparture.com
http://www.thekillers.com
Report by Natasha House for Crud Magazine 2004©
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