Give me The Horrors

Before you peruse these next few sentences, please be aware of one thing. In my perhaps twisted opinion, any band which features a Vox/Farfisa organ in their instrumental line-up is automatically in the front ranks of music-making. Forget the brain-bending guitar antics of yer Hendrix, just give me that Vox Continental tone every time; there’s nothing like it.

That said, the much-anticipated debut album ‘Strange House’ from Junk Club impresarios The Horrors doesn’t just excite me in its use of cutting edge 1960s keyboard technology. It is nothing less than a short, sharp assault on the senses. My vinyl copy has been spinning away on the turntable here all day, with me happily turning it over every few minutes for another fix.

Some writers seem to have missed the point of this album. “It’s not serious enough” is one criticism I have seen leveled at the album. Sorry, but if you want to misunderstand the point of rock n roll in all of it’s glorious stupidity and joyous theatricality then you might as well give up and become a Tool fan. The Horrors aren’t doing social commentary. They weren’t borne from the confines of or meant for bedroom analysis, but in a club. They are meant to be good fun. If they get laid lots in the process, then everybody wins, right?

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of intelligence hidden behind those bowl-cut fringes. The eleven short tracks here roar by with a real ferocity, but they are welded together with something else entirely. Their now infamous 60s garage sound is used here as a basis. Whereas so many bands are purely retro-copyists aping a sound they love with no further creativity, The Horrors use that sound as a basis and then layer it with endless invention. Whether that be in use of feedback, distortion, arrangement, time-signature changes or just general tone, they make each song a sheer thrill to listen to over and over. Unlike many new bands, The Horrors know how to use light and dark in their music, it gives their songs momentum and drive. It’s exciting like a good scary movie; you kinda expect what’s coming next, but it’s the subtle changes to the formula that get you in the end.

’Strange House’ isn’t a mission statement. If we indulge in The Horrors rules and take rock n roll at its most primitive and visceral level, then there can be nothing as pretentious as a mission statement. It’s just a fucking good debut album, with a Vox organ.



Above: Sheena Is A Parasite

The Horrors Myspace


Content by Charlie at left-legged pineapple.