{"id":44168,"date":"2026-08-14T10:58:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=44168"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:58:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:58:32","slug":"brandon-flowers-sees-vampire-weekend-as-competitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=44168","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Flowers Sees Vampire Weekend as Competitors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Brandon-Flowers-Vampire-Weekend-Competition.jpg?quality=80\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-id=\"1617876\" data-title=\"Brandon Flowers Sees Vampire Weekend as Competitors\" data-url=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2026\/08\/brandon-flowers-vampire-weekend-competitors\/\" data-page=\"1\" data-pages=\"1\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/artist\/brandon-flowers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brandon Flowers<\/a> doesn\u2019t just see The Strokes as primary competition for his band <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/artist\/the-killers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Killers<\/a>: He\u2019s had his eye on <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/artist\/vampire-weekend\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vampire Weekend<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n<p>Flowers recently sat down for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tBtmCy6H7h4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Anthony Mason\u2019s <em>Alchemy<\/em> podcast<\/a> to discuss his upcoming solo album,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2026\/06\/brandon-flowers-thrasher-country-the-killers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>THRASHER<\/em><\/a>, and throughout, he discussed his lengthy career with The Killers and how other bands have pushed him to be better. Vampire Weekend are one such band. \u201cI\u2019m always looking for something \u2014 I want to wake up tomorrow and hear something that just makes me want to go to the piano,\u201d Flowers told Mason. \u201cI have a little bit of competition in me\u2026 and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s necessarily a bad thing. So I\u2019m always aware of when Vampire Weekend are putting something out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vivid-seats.pxf.io\/c\/1882189\/952533\/12730?subId1=brandon-flowers%2Avampire-weekend-competition-button&amp;subId2=&amp;subId3=&amp;sharedid=&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vividseats.com%2Fbrandon-flowers-tickets%2Fperformer%2F24438\" class=\"button button-ticket\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Find Brandon Flowers Tickets<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As Mason pointed out, Vampire Weekend and The Killers both operate with very different sounds \u2014 but that\u2019s less relevant to Flowers. \u201cIt\u2019s just kinda\u2026 \u2018How\u2019s [Ezra Koenig] doing\u2019?,\u201d he said with a laugh. Flowers did clarify that he \u201clove[s] Ezra\u201d and they share a producer; Ariel Rechtshaid, who has produced the last three Vampire Weekend albums, is also producing The Killers\u2019 next LP. Flowers also revealed that he once played tennis with Koenig in Australia, but opts to save that story for another time.<\/p>\n<p>Related Video<\/p>\n<p>Flowers has expressed this competitive spirit toward Vampire Weekend before, telling <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/brandon-flowers-on-how-vampire-weekend-inspired-the-killers-like-the-strokes-used-to-2736949\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">NME<\/a><\/em> in 2020 that hearing the band\u2019s fourth album\u00a0<em>Father of the Bride<\/em> instilled more creative inspiration for The Killers\u2019 2020 LP\u00a0<em>Imploding the Mirage<\/em>. \u201c[<em>Father of the Bride<\/em>] really helped to propel us into the right direction and realize that we couldn\u2019t just phone in The Killers\u2019 record,\u201d Flowers said. \u201cWe had to do better. I told Ezra that. I\u2019m grateful for people like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Flowers also heralded The Strokes\u2019 debut album <em>Is This It<\/em> as a significant creative catalyst for The Killers\u2019 first LP, <em>Hot Fuss. <\/em>Discussing the record with Mason, Flowers alluded to the story of how he canned every song intended for the band\u2019s debut\u00a0<em>except<\/em> for \u201cMr. Brightside.\u201d \u201cThe Strokes put out their first record, and it really had an impact on me. I mean, at first, it was really negative\u2026 I felt like life was over,\u201d Flowers said. \u201cThe bar went from here to here,\u201d he said, raising his hand high, \u201cAnd it was like\u2026 it\u2019s over. My life is over. But I got this one song. And it\u2019s hanging with them. So let\u2019s throw away everything else basically and start over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in his chat with Mason, Flowers discussed the initially poor critical reception to their sophomore LP <em>Sam\u2019s Town<\/em>, saying that people have apologized in retrospect for \u201cthe way they treated that record.\u201d He also reflected on 22 years of <em>Hot Fuss<\/em>, the characters that appear in <em>THRASHER<\/em>, writing a second album of \u201clove songs\u201d, what\u2019s next for The Killers, more. Watch the interview with Flowers and Mason below, with the discussion about Vampire Weekend taking place at the 44:10 mark.<\/p>\n<p><em>THRASHER<\/em>, Flowers\u2019 first solo album in 11 years, arrives on August 21st via Island Records. The project takes on a Country-Western sound; so far, he\u2019s revealed the singles \u201cPlans,\u201d \u201cParadise,\u201d and \u201cTiger\u2019s Blood.\u201d Flowers will support <em>THRASHER<\/em> with a <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2026\/06\/brandon-flowers-2026-north-american-tour\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 North American tour<\/a> kicking off on September 1st. Check out his tour dates below and get tickets <a style=\"display: inline !important;\" href=\"https:\/\/vivid-seats.pxf.io\/c\/1882189\/952533\/12730?subId1=brandon-flowers&amp;subId2=vampire-weekend-competition&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vividseats.com%2Fbrandon-flowers-tickets%2Fperformer%2F2443\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As for Vampire Weekend, they released their most recent album,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2024\/04\/vampire-weekend-only-god-was-above-us-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Only God Was Above Us<\/em><\/a>, in 2024.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Killers&amp;apos; frontman on how he wrote his new album | Brandon Flowers\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tBtmCy6H7h4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Brandon Flowers 2026 Tour Dates:<\/strong><br \/>09\/01 \u2014 Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren<br \/>09\/04 \u2014 Los Angeles, CA @ The Ford<br \/>09\/05 \u2014 Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater<br \/>09\/07 \u2014 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater<br \/>09\/08 \u2014 Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre<br \/>09\/09 \u2014 Seattle, WA @ The Showbox<br \/>09\/11 \u2014 Salt Lake City, UT @ Red Butte Garden<br \/>09\/12 \u2014 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre<br \/>09\/15 \u2014 St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre<br \/>09\/16 \u2014 Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre<br \/>09\/18 \u2014 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount<br \/>09\/20 \u2014 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club<br \/>09\/21 \u2014 Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall<br \/>09\/23 \u2014 Boston, MA @ Roadrunner<br \/>09\/24 \u2014 Toronto, ON @ HISTORY<br \/>10\/02 \u2014 Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival 2026<br \/>10\/06 \u2014 Las Vegas, NV @ Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas<br \/>10\/14 \u2014 Bournemouth, UK @ Bournemouth O2 Academy<br \/>10\/15 \u2014 London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall<br \/>10\/17 \u2014 Bristol, UK @ Bristol Beacon<br \/>10\/18 \u2014 Nottingham, UK @ Nottingham Rock City<br \/>10\/20 \u2014 Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo Manchester<br \/>10\/21 \u2014 York, UK @ Barbican<br \/>10\/23 \u2014 Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy Glasgow<br \/>10\/24 \u2014 Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy Birmingham<br \/>10\/27 \u2014 Dublin, IE @ 3Olympia Theatre<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n\t\t!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n\t\tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\n\t\tn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=1;\n\t\tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\n\t\tdocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n\t\tfbq('init', '1753966171496536');\n\t\tfbq('set','agent','tmgoogletagmanager', '1753966171496536');\n\t\tfbq('track', \"PageView\");\n\t<\/script><script defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&#038;version=v7.0&#038;appId=434175690014\" nonce=\"6gwmbCtM\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brandon Flowers doesn\u2019t just see The Strokes as primary competition for his band The Killers: He\u2019s had his eye on Vampire Weekend, too. Flowers recently sat down for Anthony Mason\u2019s Alchemy podcast to discuss his upcoming solo album,\u00a0THRASHER, and throughout, he discussed his lengthy career with The Killers and how other bands have pushed him&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Brandon-Flowers-Vampire-Weekend-Competition.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}