Do you remember The Horrors? They looked like they came from horror movies: obscure appereance, messy hairdos, pale faces and strong makeup. Nomen est omen, right? I recently saw their video on VH1, and remembered when I was on their concertt on Exit Festival, so I have decided to dedicate this week's throwback to them, even though they might not deserve it.
The Horrors were one of these band who created a whole iconography in order to compensat for the lack of musical authenticity. It always seemed like the image is more important than sound to them. In 2006, they have experience a substantial success with the hype they generated with their frenetic performances and sick video for Sheena Is A Parasite. It all looked like that was a beginning of a cult. At the start of 2007, they droppd their debut titlted Strange House, and it became clear that cult might be an overstated term.
Some of the songs from the debut could have been heard on EP that preceeded it, and the soundscape did not differ drastically. It was a mixture of punk and garage rock with strong gothic and surf influences. When you add anger and schizophrenia on top of that, you would think this would stand as one of the best debuts of the past decade. But hold that thought.
The album unfolds with Jack The Ripper, a song that starts pretty easy until it turns to nervous monster. It is followd by one of the best tracks The Horrors have ever pulled off, Count In Fives. I remember hearing Draw Japan back in the day and thinking that it is a very peculiar surf thingy. Excellent Choice was the first song the band has ever written, and it stands out due to surf rhythym, powerful synths and drumms. Further on, two vocals have split duties: one got the role of screaming for no reason, and the other one controls the melody of the song. You can hear here how many ideas this band had in their mind. They were too young to know that is not all about ideas. There is something more in excecution.
I have already mentioned Sheena Is A Parasite, but it is not redundant to state that this song has openned many doors for the band. It is a very noisy number with horny rhythym, and the video showed The Horrors' tendency to go over the top. Gill Sleeping is instrumental that ocassionally sounds like it was produced by a bunch of kids who were simply playing with the instruments, while Gloves comes off as a typical rock track with recognizible riff.mother songs are too similar to dissect them. They are glued with the atmosphere of fear and surf.
Songs that were previously released on EP represent the best portion of the debut. The bar was raised so high that the rest of the tracks were not able to reach. It seems to me that all of them were hastily put together just so that they can speed up the process of album's release. The band's did not live up to the hype. They rushed and burned in their impatience. I mean, we still got some good material, but it could have been much more realized.
However, If you like Adams Family and Dawn Of The Dead, consider Strange House as a suitable soundtrack for your summer days. These five freaks are still waiting for you on every corner. I am not sure we are going to hear from them again, but If we do, it will certainly be a scream.
