When Brandon Flowers said the new Killers album was aiming for a Springsteen sound, just about everyone had to laugh. Sure Brandon, and I wanna be a firetruck when I grow up! But gol-ly, these shapeshifting clowns have pulled off an E Street likeness, save for some leftover synths from Hot Fuss. Without even listening to this mini-Boss offering, there's a lot to hate here. Flowers has been waxing majestic over the upcoming Sam's Town, dubbing it one of the last two decades' greatest albums already, and now he's got the chutzpah to hijack Bruce's American dream and its soundtrack.

This ain't no popularity contest though, and I'll welcome any Killers song that breaks their locked-in new wave mold. Unfortunately, the nasally Flowers sounds like Todd Rundgren fronting the New E Street Band, and there's no bring-the-hammer-down hook to sanctify its anthem status. If the contrived rough-and-tumble lyrics sound ridiculous-- "we're burnin' down the highway skyline/ on the back of a hurricane"-- it's because Bruce's were equally garish, but there was legit working class pathos behind them, whereas the Killers' Las Vegas glam doesn't mesh well with red, white, and blue. In other words, this baby's a stillborn, not born to run.