By Nick Carrabine
NCarrabine@News-Herald.com

It’s only been six years, but it seems like The Killers have been around forever.

In their six year career, they’ve released three very solid albums and a phenomenal B-sides and rarities album.

Last Tuesday, lead singer Brandon Flowers released his debut solo record appropriately titled, Flamingo (The Killers are from Las Vegas.)

When I first sat down to listen to the record, I had no idea what to expect, partially because every single Killers’ album sounds completely different and early reviews for Flamingo weren’t exactly setting the world on fire.

Purchasing the Deluxe Edition, which includes 14 songs rather than just 10 on the regular edition, was a wise choice however as all four of the “bonus” songs are extremely solid and the album in its entirety is rather impressive.

The Killers like to dig deep into various musical genres but it seems on Flamingo, Flowers goes with a more adult-contemporary approach and even country and folk at certain times. In no way does this sound like an album The Killers would have made, which is nice from a solo record.

“Hard Enough” shows off a nice collaboration between Flowers and Rilo Kiley’s lead singer, Jenny Lewis, while “On The Floor” sounds like something you’d hear in church.

The chorus from “Was It Something I Said?” has been stuck in my head for days and “Playing with Fire” is one of the better songs I’ve ever heard Flowers sing on.

The only song that may be tough to get past is the first track, “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas.” which starts off pretty slow but gains a bit of steam by the end, but not a good introduction to the album.

All in all, it’s a serviceable release to hold Killers fans over until they release their fourth studio album, which is projected to come out in 2012.