Pop Quiz: The Killers

Pop Quiz: The Killers

Aidin Vaziri | After skyrocketing out of Las Vegas with a debut album that sold 5 million copies, the Killers now want to be taken seriously. And they've grown beards to prove it. On their second outing, "Sam's Town," the Killers might still be digging for inspiration in 1984 -- but instead of mining the dramatic synth-pop of Duran Duran's "Seven and the Ragged Tiger," the quartet finds it in the blustery rock of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." So far, the new old sound is getting mixed reactions, even though the single "When You Were Young" is hovering near the top of Billboard's modern-rock chart. We spoke with guitarist David Keuning on the eve of the disc's release.

David Keuning of The Killers
Q: How are you taking the backlash?
A: How much backlash is there? For Christ's sake, I don't know. I can't keep up with the backlash. Are people writing on the Net? I'm kind of out of the loop. Is there a lot of backlash, like, on the Internet?
Q: Not exclusively. Rolling Stone gave the album two stars out of something like 17.
A: Yeah, well, Rolling Stone is full of crap.
Q: Also, people on Amazon, MySpace, right here -- everyone is abuzz about your new sound.
A: And they're unsure of it?
Q: Pretty much. What do you think about it?
A: I made the album.
Q: Don't you think it sounds a little weird?
A: I honestly don't think it's that dramatic of a shift. I'm beginning to think you just can't win with a second album. I guarantee you if we stayed exactly the same we'd have people talking just as much crap, if not more. You can't make an album like "Hot Fuss" 10 times.
Q: Most of the backlash is actually directed toward the new facial hair, not so much the music.