Brandon Flowers Moves Farther Into Country on “Thrasher”

Brandon Flowers’ move into a full country-western record had been coming for a long time. The Killers frontman has shown affection for the genre on Sam’s Town, his solo debut Flamingo, and the band’s 2021 album Pressure Machine. Thrasher finally delivers the full statement.

The album carries the trappings of a serious country project. It includes harmonica player Charlie McCoy, guitarist David Rawlings, and pedal steel player Bruce Bouton among its contributors. Flowers has named Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash as reference points. This is not a stylistic detour but a continuation of threads he left open.

The music often works. “One of Us” rides a honky tonk bounce in tribute to Flowers’ late brother-in-law, its sincerity keeping it from turning sweet. “Paradise” piles up banjo, pedal steel, mandolin, and organ into a bright, upbeat arrangement that runs against its downbeat lyrics. The closing “An American Dream” sways like the end of a long night.

Lyrically, Thrasher is less steady. Flowers leans into storytelling about his Utah childhood, but the details sometimes land awkwardly. Lines about “peach fuzz boys getting hard in the corner” or Elvis in a Tesla Model X sound forced. His attempts to write women and people of color on “Miss America” and “Angel” produce worse results, including phrases like “porno eyes” and “chocolate and vanilla swirls.”

Still, the album has an endearing quality that holds even when it misses. Thrasher works best when the arrangements carry the songs and Flowers lets the music do the talking.