The Horrors: CD review
England’s most goulish export, The Horrors, came out with their new album Strange House in March 2007, and its hard, raw, and a bit scary, at least to this emo loving princess.
Formed over five years ago, when Rys Webb, Faris Badwan, and Tomethy Furse met on the Southend circuit sharing their love of 60’s garage band rock, The Horrors are unique to say the least. With heavy drums by Coffin Joe (Joe Spurgeon), eerie vocals by Faris Rotter (Badwan) and distinctive guitar sounds via Joshua Third (who builds the guitar pedals himself), Strange House’s pace increases as the album moves forward, building up to a cacophony of hardcore garage rock sound.
Highlights of the album include “Jack the Ripper” a cover of the Screaming Lord Sutch’s version, albeit with their own thumbprint, thanks to Coffin Joe’s undeniable drum talent. “Draw Japan” comes through as the most punkish song, reminiscent of Sex Pistols and the British punk scene. “Horrors Theme” is a sufficiently freaky as the band’s banner song. “Sheena is a Parasite” is probably their most popular and well known recording, as the band was approached by director Chris Cunningham who admits to being “mildly obsessed” with it. Cunningham, who is best known for directing music videos for Aphex Twins, came out of a seven year hiatus to direct the appropriately twisted “Sheena” video staring English darling, actress Samantha Morton. Having been immediately banned from MTV UK, the video played for a bit on MTV2 in the United States. “Gil’s Sleeping” an entirely instrumental song, is another interesting addition to Strange House.
If The Horrors are your thing, this album is pure in its dark and foreboding sounds, its incredible drums and its twisted edginess. No emo or mellow sounds found here.
The Horrors are currently on their first US headlining tour and are planning on playing the European summer festivals throughout July and August. Here are the dates.
Check out Cunningham's video for "Sheena is Parasite" after the jump
Photo by vern. via flickr