The Killers' Brandon Flowers thinks rock in 2017 is "bleak"
[Photo by: Anton Corbijn]
The Killers vocalist Brandon Flowers frequently makes his opinions known about the current state of affairs in rock music. Now, according to the NME, Flowers adds that the outlook for rock'n'roll in 2017 is “bleak.” Read what the frontman has to say about rock's contemporary predicament below.
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Speaking to UK mag The Big Issue, Flowers touches on rock music's seeming decline in recent years, the genre losing headway in sales and streams to hip-hop and dance music. Flowers also says that new rock bands “need to write better songs” in order to be heard above the musical fray.
“It's hard to answer without sounding cynical,” says Flowers. “It doesn't look great. But I don't know that that's necessarily anybody's fault but the bands. … Bands need to write better songs, you know. It's undeniable, if you do it right.”
“The sexy side of rock'n'roll has been handed over to rap and hip-hop,” he continues, speaking to an ostensible rock music decline. “And that seems more fruitful and fresh and forward-thinking than rock has been for a while.”
This isn't the first time Flowers has waxed philosophical about rock music's seeming slide. Last month, the musician told Noisey that current bands weren't “good enough” to take up the reins for rock, lamenting the rise of post-punk revivalists like Interpol and early-2000s rock torchbearers the Strokes.
“It could happen,” Flowers says, “but there hasn't been anybody good enough. If there was a band like the Strokes, or Interpol, people would talk. [Points outside to Brooklyn] If there were some kids out there right now playing 'Obstacle 1' tonight, I would hear about it, you would hear about it. But there isn't.”
The Killers' new album Wonderful Wonderful is out on Sept. 22.
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