We love/hate The Horrors!

The recipients of praise in Charlie’s last post were The Horrors. It seems that most people either love them or hate them. We can see from Charlie’s review that he likes them; however I’m far from impressed. I’ve listened to the album and have tried to like it, but to no avail. I was left struggling to see how they have gained so much positive attention in certain magazines. I couldn’t help asking myself how they had managed to get on the front cover of NME last year, without having released an album, and only having five songs at the time (of which only three were original material).

As a cynic, I would suggest that they have achieved this because they have been able to infiltrate the pretentious London scene with sickening ease. The band has successfully created an image to make them the 'band of the moment'. It’s amazing that all those skinny jeans haven’t hindered people from jumping on the bandwagon. The clique has spoken and it has said that it’s just too unfashionable to dislike The Horrors. This attitude of musical elitism means that a copy of their debut 7” single will cost you around £50 on EBay. Incase you don’t know it; the title is Sheena is a Parasite. The chorus goes like this:

Sheena is a Parasite
Sheena is a Parasite
Sheena is a Parasite
Sheena is a Parasite

Charlie argues that lyrical simplicity isn’t always a bad thing. Dumb is the word here, hard-wired to a part of the brain that bypasses normality – and the Horrors are a celebration of that. The sheer ridiculousness of rock and roll. Let’s compare their words to Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti, arguably one of the most vital records in the history of rock n roll:

A Wop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bam-boom
Tutti Frutti, on rootie
Tutti Frutti, on rootie
Tutti Frutti, on rootie
Tutti Frutti, on rootie
Tutti Frutti, on rootie
Awop-bop-a-loo-mop alop bam boom

You see there isn’t much difference here in terms of meaningful content or repetition. The words are nothing more than another instrument on the one hand, and a celebration of sheer exuberance on the other.

I don’t think it’s an accident that legendary director Chris Cunningham chose to break a seven year hiatus in directing music vids to direct the promo for Sheena. He said that he had become somewhat obsessed with the song.

There is a strong PR machine attached to every single band that comes along. Every single artist today has the backing of a PR machine that tries to market that band to a particular demographic. The Horrors visual identity is particularly striking, and I think is just sharper and more ‘obvious’ than many other bands. I don’t even think theirs is an image that is particularly trendy at the moment, just really different. (No-one has used that organ sound since the Inspiral Carpets in the early 1990s) And in a sea of samey bands, many of whom still have that chingchingching Strokes kinda sound, it just really makes them stand out.

I have to agree that there have been many great songs which have been founded upon a simple chorus and often ridiculous lyrics. Similarly, many great bands have relied on PR and image to thrive. The reason I specifically dislike The Horrors is because they get excessive media attention for very little musical talent. If you like the music then the marketing machine is simply good promotion. If you don't like the music, then all of the other stuff appears to be their only merit. It's the people who fall for the marketing (NME readers must be especially singled out here) who create the popular bands with no musical substance to justify their media hype.

The reason they got on the cover of the NME last year was probably because they had the best haircuts. To underestimate the power of the haircut in pop is a dangerous thing. The haircut is the single most iconic part of image, and it is image that drove mersey-beat, glam, punk, new-romanticism, brit-pop etc etc. No-one took any notice of the Beatles lyrics until Revolver, but their image sold them to the world four years before that. I’m not comparing the Horrors to the Beatles, but you get my point?

It is certainly true that image drove all of those genres, but the engine was still good music. The Horrors lack this engine and are currently freewheeling, having being given a push start by the music press.

Despite my disdain, I do believe that someone in The Horrors has considerable talent. Sadly, I believe that it’s is the guy who runs their PR machine. It is said that any publicity is good publicity. Never is this truer than right now. I should stop writing. I can’t though. The overwhelming sense of the unfairness of popular, fashionable bands fuels my ranting.

The fact that we are having this conversation says much about this band. I wouldn’t be having this discussion over Coldplay, put it that way!

Pop has always depended heavily on the dealings of management. Sex Pistols with Malcom McLaren, The Clash with Bernie Rhodes, Elvis Presley with Tom Parker, The Beatles with Brian Epstein, Kit Lambert with The Who – all are unforgettable artists whose image was just as important, if not more so, than the music. One of my biggest problems with so much modern music is the lack of theatricality that surrounds it. There seems to be so much emphasis on ‘cool’ these days that people seem to forget how much power is derived from the frivolous and the downright silly. I’m not talking about The Darkness here, or any other sort of piss-take music. Every band I mentioned above were deadly serious about their intentions, but never forgot that rock n roll is primarily about entertainment, about forgetting the shit world we inhabit and the day to day drudgery. Pure escapism. Pure rock and roll!

So yeah, musical talent be damned! I never mentioned anything like that in my piece, and I dare say that much of the ‘inventiveness’ I discussed was brought to the table by the producer anyway. It’s only the end result I was listening to. Those are my feelings.

Charlie and I have decided that we respectively do & don't like their music. Having made these judgments we then see the surrounding hype very differently; as a good promotion / as a poor substitute for talent. I take solace in the knowledge that Charlie has made his decision using his ears not a copy of NME. However, many people are not so wise. These people are the ones who see the hype and decide they like a band because it's cool to do so, regardless of the music. Don’t be one of them, throw away your pre-conceptions, click the link below, close your eyes, sit back and make your decisions based on musical talent; or the lack of it.

The Horrors Myspace