The Killers Frontman Brandon Flowers Blames Lack Of Songwriting For Decline Of 'Guitar Bands'
Thursday, 06 September 2012
Written by Elliott Batte
Brandon Flowers, frontman of American rockers The Killers, has spoken out about the decline of ‘guitar bands’ in recent years - blaming the bands themselves for their lack of original songwriting.
The super-popular four-piece are one of the biggest ‘guitar bands’ in the world at the moment, but the rest of the world’s axe-wielding outfits have seen a major dip in popularity in recent times, with genres like dubstep, dance, and drum and bass taking their place. But, Flowers is rather unsympathetic with the bands, and rather than blame anyone, he thinks they should take a look at themselves first.
“Well, guitar bands aren't writing songs,” Flowers told Shortlist. “Write a fucking song, get over yourself. There aren't any. Where are they? Dance music cannot compete with a really great rock n' roll song. There ain't no DJ that's gonna play something that can take 'Mr Brightside' or 'Don't Look Back In Anger'. Those songs are better than that.”
He continued: “I appreciate the dance culture, it's cool. I love bands that are able to blend that stuff, I grew up on Depeche Mode and New Order, but there aren't any bands that are giving it a run for its money.”
Flowers then went on to point some of the finger at grunge, and, in particular, Nirvana - although he reassured people he wasn’t bad-mouthing the band in any way whatsoever.
“Yeah, it got serious. People misinterpret my emotions towards Nirvana because I’ve said things about how something happened with grunge that took a little bit of fun out of things. It’s no offense to Nirvana, they were one of the greats, obviously.
“But something died there too and we haven’t quite gotten the groove back. It’s seen as dirty to be ambitious. What if U2 weren’t ambitious? We wouldn’t have that gift we have from them. I’ve said things like that before but people, instead of hearing the reason, they just say, 'He hates Nirvana, what a dick!'”
Despite grunge, Nirvana, and some lazy guitar bands, The Killers have only gotten bigger and bigger with each album and their latest - ‘Battle Born’ - is set to hit shelves on September 17th. You can catch the band on UK tour this October and November - simply check the dates and details below to find tickets.
Fri October 26th 2012 - SECC, Glasgow
Sat October 27th 2012 - Aberdeen Exhibition Centre, Aberdeen
Wed October 31st 2012 - LG Arena, Birmingham
Sat November 3rd 2012 - Capital FM Arena, Nottingham
Sun November 4th 2012 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne
Mon November 5th 2012 - Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff
Thu November 8th 2012 - Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield
Fri November 9th 2012 - Liverpool Echo Arena, Liverpool
Tue November 13th 2012 - Manchester Arena, Manchester
Fri November 16th 2012 - O2 Arena, London
Sat November 17th 2012 - O2 Arena, London
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