Retro Music: Accuracy, Transcendence, Perceptions of Genericness, Etc.

The Killers, for example. The chorus of "Mr. Brightside" is swiped from the chorus of Blondie's "Dreaming." But the Killers don't sound like Blondie. People make bizarre statements about how they allegedly sound like Duran Duran or how the singer sounds like Morrissey, but these things aren't true.

So, the Killers sound retro without being pinpoint accurate. But are they perceived as being more generic because they're not? Are we really going to be much more stoked to listen to a bunch of kids who demonstrate their awareness of Joy Division's discography better? (Or something equivalent -- I don't mean to set up a strawman group here -- Interpol would perhaps be an example.)

Also, are the Killers not in a better position to do something transcendent than a band whose aesthetic is more tightly inscribed? Someone tells me that the new Mahjongg album seems to have a Fela Kuti and I just think, "Well, it's just another bunch of kids paying homage to this one thing that they think is cool." (I haven't heard the album, but you know what I mean. This is just meant as an example.)