How The Killers got their name from New Order
New Order were solidly in legacy mode by the early 2000s. Multiple generations of bands and artists had taken their embrace of electronica to heart, helping pave the way for alternative rock to fuse with dance, techno, house, and synth-pop. With decades of hindsight, it seems obvious that The Killers were one of New Order’s biggest acolytes, given their fusion of synth-heavy electronic sounds with hard-charging post-punk rock and roll.
As it turns out, New Order actually had a more direct hand in giving The Killers their identity. That’s because, when Brandon Flowers and his cohorts were trying to find a name, they turned to a then-recently released single from the synth-rock titans. More specifically, they turned on the video that came with New Order’s 2001 single ‘Crystal’.
In the music video, the members of New Order are replaced with a younger fictional band. On the bass drum of the band reads the name “The Killers”. Flowers and guitarist Dave Keuning had only just formed a new band that year. ‘Crystal’ was released in August of 2001, and by November, Flowers and Keuning had entered the studio to craft their first demo under the name The Killers, one that featured an early take on ‘Mr. Brightside’.
Bands called “The Killers” had an interesting history before Flowers and Keuning took hold of it. Former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno formed his own band called Killers (without the definitive article) in 1991, named after Iron Maiden’s second album, 1981’s Killers. In early 2002, after The Killers had recorded their first demo but before the release of any official music, The Mountain Goats recorded the song ‘The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton’ which featured two young metalheads pondering over whether to call their band The Killers, among a host of other names.
Ultimately, Flowers and Keuning were happy to give the credit for their name to New Order and even borrowed elements of the ‘Crystal’ video in their own video for the song ‘Somebody Told Me’. Flowers has joined New Order on stage on a couple of different occasions, even singing the vocal part for ‘Crystal’, bringing the loop of inspiration back full circle.
Check out the video for ‘Crystal’ down below.
