And then there were none. Or four, depending on your perspective. Killers lead guitarist and co-founder Dave Keuning — currently on hiatus from the band — is the fourth and final member of the Las Vegas rockers to release a solo album. For those keeping score at home, singer Brandon Flowers and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. have issued two solo albums each, while bassist Mark Stoermer tops them all with three extracurricular outings. And based on the hum-drum affair that is Prismism, perhaps it’s no wonder Keuning waited so long to jump into the solo waters. Supposedly Keuning played nearly everything himself, and it shows: The bulk of these 14 lacklustre, keyboard-heavy pop-rockers feel like something that was assembled in a computer rather than performed by interacting humans. Emotional and musical hooks are few and far between, the performances feel restrained and disengaged, the production is all shimmer and no steak, and Keuning’s thin, undermixed vocals aren’t strong enough to carry the disc. A few of the more guitar-driven cuts have their moments, but for the most part it sounds like songs built out of bits and pieces that weren’t interesting or original enough for his day job. No killers, plenty of filler. That’s what you get for playing it by the numbers.
