Killers goal: Revive traditional rock music

NEW YORK - Let Justin Timberlake worry about bringing sexy back. The Killers have a far weightier goal in mind as they release their grand sophomore album, Sam's Town - to bring good music back. "We've gotten away from what the Beatles did and what started it all, and what Elvis songs were like, and it needs to be brought back," says Brandon Flowers, the rock quartet's lead vocalist and lyricist, looking serious and earnest.

"The experimentation has gone far enough. We lost the song." OK, so some might argue that it never left - and there are plenty of good songs to go around.

Others may question whether The Killers - a Las Vegas rock quartet who have released only one album (albeit a fine, triple-platinum-selling album) - are qualified to serve as saviors. No worries. The cocky band that helped rejuvenate the rock scene with their Brit-pop, '80s influenced Hot Fuss are even more confident with the release of Sam's Town, a moodier, more mature disc that reflects the influence of Bruce Springsteen and incorporates the guidance of producers Flood and Alan Moulder, best known for their work with acts like U2 and the Smashing Pumpkins.

"We are doing our own thing on this record and hopefully kind of paving the way again," says bassist Mark Stoermer. "I think really there are no weak songs on the record. .

. . I think they all show different degrees of growing.

Just overall, the sound has matured and improved, in our eyes." That they decided to tinker with the formula that put them on the map is admirable in itself. Instead of the garage-rock sound that defined some "it" rock bands of the moment, 2004's Hot Fuss mined New Wave with imaginative, captivating songs like Mr.

Brightside and Somebody Told Me. Though they first got notice in Europe, it didn't take long before they would conquer their native land; the Grammy-nominated Hot Fuss went on to sell more than 3 million copies domestically. But when it came time to work on their follow-up, the band knew that despite all their success, it was time for a change.

Guitarist David Keuning admits some of that pressure did get to the band - "How could it not?" he asks. "Everybody is like, 'We can't wait for your second album, hope it's not a slump.

And then you've got other people just negative, like, 'Yeah, you're gonna suck . . .

you're going to fizzle out,' " he says. "We were just determined to prove all of those people wrong." When and where: 7 p.

m. Sunday, Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson St.