Stereogum Home

 

August 19, 2006

New Killers Video - "When You Were Young"

Whee!

...

OK, you got me. That was actually something entirely different. Here is Brandon's Mexican melodrama for reals.

Posted at 2:07 PM
Tags:




31 Comments

"This is the best music video in 20 YEARS!!!"

Posted by: magnumforce2006 at 08/20/06 1:44 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

the cheating husband in the video is gael garcia's asshole brother from "Amores Perros"

CLASSIC!!!!

Posted by: Julio at 08/20/06 2:07 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Not bad not bad at all.I actually like it :-) It has that whole dirty look to it that reminds me of Amores Perros.Dig the song,of course!

Posted by: Florecita86 at 08/20/06 5:48 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Julio,no wonder that guy looked familar!Thanks for that info!

Posted by: Florecita86 at 08/20/06 5:51 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Why would any band want to become Journey?

Posted by: Thadeus at 08/20/06 7:57 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

i like the video, but i still believe it won't appeal to general audiences... which i think was the whole point. and that's a good thing, right?

julio, now i'm wishing they should've cast gael garcia bernal instead. now, he's hot.

Posted by: finn at 08/20/06 8:12 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

this song is utter shit

Posted by: erik at 08/20/06 11:08 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Why do you guys even bother to blog this band when you know everyone is just going to talk about how much they hate them anyway? Nevermind they just broke the record for presales on iTunes, and their single was the highest debut on the charts this week. Of course, to all the indie kids that just means it must be crap, right?

Posted by: Dina at 08/20/06 11:13 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

I never thought I'd miss the overly stylized version of The Killers. A five-o'clock shadow is really unbecoming on Brandon Flowers.

Posted by: Kim at 08/20/06 11:24 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Are you kidding? Brandon could grow an afro and I'd still go all loopy looking at him...Anyway, I liked the video. Did you guys notice how comfortable the band has grown when they play? They've really loosened up, aren't as shy. I thought it was kind of brilliant.

Posted by: Jamie at 08/20/06 12:54 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

of course its shit, its popular.

Posted by: matt at 08/20/06 1:44 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

"Why do you guys even bother to blog this band when you know everyone is just going to talk about how much they hate them anyway? Nevermind they just broke the record for presales on iTunes, and their single was the highest debut on the charts this week. Of course, to all the indie kids that just means it must be crap, right?"-Dina

"of course its shit, its popular."--Matt

Too funny Dina. Too too funny.

Posted by: Tauwan at 08/20/06 2:27 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

I don't think this video is good. It's about something, but the song is kind of about nothing in particular. That makes the video feel more emotional than the song. I think it makes The Killers look weak. They should have made a video with less drama and more epic shots.

Posted by: Max Imam at 08/20/06 2:34 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

I actually kind of love this song. It's so ridiculous and dramatic but it's got a great melody.

The video on the other hand, was a bit hard to follow.

Also, Brandon Flowers will always be a douchebag. Let's not play games here.

Posted by: Beverly at 08/20/06 3:14 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

i'm actually interested now what the rest of the album was like. is you think about successful bands who lat, they reinvent themselves. i dont really love the song, but i dont hate it- it is definately growing on me. but brandon's new look will take a lot longer to do so. pairing scraggly facial hair and a bolo tie with synthesizers is not an easy task.

Posted by: liv at 08/20/06 4:22 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

I'm no songwriter so I dont know how what term is used to describe it, but the ending is pretty killer, obviously springsteen like everyone has said, but its a pretty cool climax. They are easily becoming the most hated/loved band

I am a bit younger, but I always wondered what u2's reception was early on. I know they are much better than the killers, and their early albums werent very middle of the road, but I am sure u2 had some backlash in their day just the same for being so extravagant

Posted by: Jb at 08/20/06 5:56 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

An oldie here to report on U2 back in the day (saw them for the first time in December of 1980). They were not extravagant. They were quite humble. They knew they couldn't play their instruments very well and Bono was (and always has been) very insecure about his voice.

They got a lot of attention very early and were really awed by it, as opposed to thinking it was deserved (like Mr. Flowers). They were kids (19-20 years old) who were friends, and decided to start a band, because there was nothing else to do. They didn't ever think, wow, we'll become famous by doing this (like Mr. Flowers).

Also, and this is arguable and surely subjective, but when U2 started they were a fresh voice and sound. They didn't sound like anyone else around. It wasn't a great show that got them attention, it was more their enthusiam and new sound. (when I first saw them they had to repeat 2 songs because the audience called them back for an encore and they had already played all the songs they knew). And to me (again, arguable and subjective) The Killers sound like a dozen other bands. They bring nothing new to the table, unlike U2.

And methinks Mr. Flowers' humongous ego is based on nothing more than arrogance. At least Bono has earned his ego.

Posted by: Sasha at 08/20/06 6:25 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Glam rockers in the Barrio? Could this band be anymore crap!

Posted by: Us Kids Know at 08/20/06 7:35 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

ahahaha
haha

Posted by: will.i.not at 08/20/06 7:46 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

i actually laughed out loud when i read "of course it's shit, it's popular"

i love the whole crowd here.

Posted by: jj at 08/20/06 8:24 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

All together now:

Glamorous
Indie rock'n'roll is what I need
It's in my soul, it's what I need

Posted by: Kat at 08/20/06 10:14 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

everybody, Kat can copy & paste!

Posted by: matt at 08/20/06 10:20 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

c'mon, thadeus! who doesn't want to be journey?!

Posted by: velvetkevorkian at 08/20/06 10:29 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

springsteen should kick this guys ass

Posted by: J at 08/20/06 11:17 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

The new video is kind of interesting, even if it didn't make much sense. But I was kinda wishing you would have posted "We Built This City" instead of the other Starship pop hit...now if only the Killers could only put out a song that was that good :)

Posted by: DudeAsinCool at 08/21/06 2:33 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

the lyrics in this song are very familiar. it feels very springsteen-y but in a very cliche'd weigh. "he doesn't look like jesus..." - it's like they studied all the epic american rock songs of the last 20 years and this is their thesis...

listenable, indeed, but not very interesting.

i actually like the killers last album and sort of think they should have stuck with ripping of "boys and girls" by blurr.

Posted by: richard at 08/21/06 9:11 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

i'm one of those who was turned off by brandon's arrogance which has really been out of control lately. there's just no excuse for that (although i can understand how devoted fans can make excuses for him), and i was ready to turn my back on them. but their song "when you were young" still won me over though it took quite a while to 'coz it was so different from anything off of "hot fuss" (which i LOVED). you have to realize there are three other members of the band. and while brandon is the frontman and the lyricist, i don't really see him as the leader type. and i'm with anyone who says bono should bitchslap him and bring him back to his senses.

Posted by: finn at 08/21/06 12:26 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

may i add that the mustache is mysteriously and slowly winning me over too? now someone should bitchslap me.

Posted by: finn at 08/21/06 12:28 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

This is what would have happened if Duran Duran had taken themselves more seriously. Whether or not that is a good thing is for you to decide.

Posted by: Dirty Lenin at 08/21/06 12:52 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Any band that is trying to make as epic an album as Born to Run deserves some slack. If anyone saw the DVD on making of BTR, you saw a twenty-four year old Springsteen full of himself, his ego, and his vision and the results were masterful. Now, the talents of the four guys in Killers together are not in the same realm as Springsteen with a harmonica, but you have to admire a band not trying to play the Long Tail game and find their platinum niche as an American Blur or whatever. They're going for it all -- mass popular success and critical raves -- and too few bands even try anymore. Maybe it was always like this or maybe all of our expectations have been dampened by the sodden and saturated environment of early Century 21 America. I don't know if the album will be good, but I like their style.

Posted by: lbc at 08/22/06 12:01 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

The killers are "killer" because they make good, catchy songs. So as much as ya want to hate them, ya can't. And I'm not going to lie. I like 'em.

But this video was so hyped I had BIG expectations. Maybe I'm just not following the storyline. Would someone be so kind as to tell me, in his/her own words, what exactly is happening in this video from start to finish. I feel so lost, it's like I must have left the room to get cereal, and then come back and forgotten that I was watching a video. (P.S. That is not what happened)

Posted by: Lolo at 08/22/06 1:19 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Leave a comment


Staff

  • Founder/Editor-In-Chief: Scott Lapatine
  • Executive Editor: Amrit Singh
  • Senior Writer: Brandon Stosuy

Info

Contact

Get Flash to see our mp3 player. Here are our mp3s: Cold Cave - Life Magazine (»)
Pants Yell! - Cold Hands (»)
Bill Quick - Take Me Away (»)
Fool's Gold - Surprise Hotel (Wallpaper's Mariah Mashup) (»)
Air - Sing Sang Sung (Black Moth Super Rainbow Remix) (»)
Avi Buffalo - What's In It For (»)
Vampire Weekend - Horchata (»)
Small Black - Kings Of Animals (»)
Max Tundra - Which Song (Passion Pit Remix) (»)
Cold Cave - Theme From Tomorrowland (»)
Tegan And Sara - Hell (»)
Jeff The Brotherhood - Bone Jam (»)
Mount Eerie - Wind's Dark Poem (»)
Tigercity - Fake Gold (»)
Yeasayer - Ambling Alp (»)
Drink Up Buttercup - Even Think (Andrew W.K. Remix) (»)
Florence And The Machine - You've Got The Love (The xx Remix) (»)
Cold Cave - The Laurels of Erotomania (»)
Jookabox - Phantom Don't Go (»)
Jookabox - You Cried Me (»)

Progress Report logo
Commercial Appeal logo
Premature Evaluation logo
Band to Watch logo
Quit Your Day Job logo
The Outsiders logo
The 'Gum Drop logo