It's not just the band's name, or the fact they're from a small southern town (Auburn, Lee County, Alabama), or the wily eyes of Jerry Lee Lewis (the Killers' namesake) as he flips the bird on their T-shirts. There's something boldly savage about calling your debut album The Essential Fucked Up Blues, with an opening song that's titled "Let's Get Killed." Guitarist-screamer Chetley "El Cheetah" Weise wails about murder and cockroaches, frying accidents and judgment day, all with a punishing, unrestrained violence toward his own vocal cords.
Since the release of Blues, the Killers' lineup has gone through a bit of a shakedown. The Boss, the band's original drummer, was "not willing to sale his soul," according to the Killers' official website. Band member J.R.R. Tokien (a.k.a. "the Tokien One") has since stepped in behind the drums. Weise describes his new partner as "bananas." Smartass might be a more fitting description: On the phone from Auburn, the Tokien One claims that his job is "to entertain people, to make them forget about their shitty little lives. We emit electricity and entertainment 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, seven days a week, and that's including leap year, too. You've gotta understand where we're coming from. We're king shit of Fuck Mountain. Why would anybody want to fuck with us?" Your guess is as good as ours.
