Vinyl Record

The Killers - Sawdust

The Killers - Sawdust on 2LP vinyl. A 2007 record available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel, Ireland.

2LP · 2007

Available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel.

Buyer notes: 2007 2LP, currently available from the Kilmorna Collection vinyl shelf. Pay for pickup in Listowel or ship within Ireland for EUR 5.50.

Sawdust is The Killers opening the side door of their first imperial phase. Released in 2007, between Sam's Town and Day & Age, it gathers B-sides, stray tracks, covers, remixes and session pieces from the years when the Las Vegas band had moved from new-wave revivalists to stadium-sized myth-makers. Its value is the way it complicates that ascent. Tranquilize, with Lou Reed, drags the glamour into a darker city-night register; Shadowplay salutes Joy Division with obvious reverence; Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf completes the murder-trilogy thread around Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine and Midnight Show; Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town reaches into country storytelling; and All The Pretty Faces keeps the guitars sharp. Sawdust is not a conventional album statement, but it catches the band's workshop at full heat, showing how many identities were orbiting the hits.

Sawdust matters because it documents The Killers at the moment their early catalogue was becoming lore. The set gathers the non-album material that fans used to map the band's darker stories, influences and live-wire rock instincts beyond the main studio releases.

For collectors, Sawdust is the companion volume to Hot Fuss and Sam's Town rather than an optional oddities shelf. It is the place to find Tranquilize, Shadowplay, Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf and other tracks that flesh out the band's first major era.

Alternative rock and new-wave revival with desert neon, Springsteen-sized reach, post-punk covers, synth flashes, murder-ballad melodrama, glam shadows and Brandon Flowers' theatrical vocal urgency.

Recommended for: Collectors completing the early Killers run; Fans interested in B-sides, covers and non-album narrative threads; Listeners who want the darker edges around Hot Fuss and Sam's Town.

What is Sawdust? Sawdust is a 2007 collection of Killers B-sides, rarities, covers and related recordings from the band's early years. Which songs make Sawdust essential? Tranquilize, Shadowplay, Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf, All The Pretty Faces and Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town are key draws. Is Sawdust a normal studio album? No. It is best understood as a curated companion to the band's first major era rather than a standard studio-album cycle.