The Horrors
LABEL: Beggars Group , XL  |||  PHOTOGRAPHY: Tom Beard

The Horrors have their origin in the early 2000s where they became interested in obscure vinyl and DJing. During trips to London and on the Southend circuit, Rhys "Spider" Webb met Faris Badwan (Faris Rotter) and Tom Cowan (Tomethy Furse), who had attended Rugby School together, through their shared interests in '60s garage rock, and in 2005 the three formed a band with Joshua Hayward (Joshua Third) and Joseph Spurgeon (Coffin Joe). The band formed around Junkclub, an underground club founded by Oliver Abbott and Rhys. Their first rehearsal consisted of two covers: The Sonics' "The Witch" and Screaming Lord Sutch's "Jack the Ripper" (heavily influenced by previous cover versions by The Fuzztones, One-Way Streets and The Gruesomes) - the latter would later find itself as track one on the band's debut album. The Horrors made their first ever live performance at The Spread Eagle on Kingsland Road in London on 16 August 2005 at a night they put on themselves under the guise of The Brothers Grimm. They played with one other band, London's new wave punk pop band LR Rockets. (Wikipedia)

Primary Colours, their first release on XL, finds the band exploring a few new sounds and genres, stretching out their skills. Produced by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, it has has garnered an impressive list accolades. Granted, the British press is known for it's hyperbole, yet when the U.S. media concur on such a grand scale, maybe you should take look & listen.


PRESS

"Time will tell how Primary Colours stands up to the likes of "Loveless" or "Psychocandy," but right now, this feels like the British art-rock album we’ve all been waiting for." NME

"Like the rest of Primary Colours, this is the sound of a band finding themselves out of favor and having to really strive for greatness. The Horrors will still have a hard time winning over new converts, but they’ve done a magnificent job of confounding expectations with this release." Prefix

"Indeed, a lot will be said about the Horrors this year. After playing two sold out New York shows opening for The Kills this weekend, they release Primary Colours today to whispers of "album of the year" contention." Interview

“understated epics awash with psychedelic guitars, alien keyboards and cleverly nuanced electronic effects – are attractively moody and ambitious.” **** Telegraph (UK)

“…all eyes are once again on The Horrors, and this time it’s not just the usual hyperbole prone culprits salivating in anticipation. Even typically level-headed critics are getting into a frothy mess over the sounds emanating from the black clad quintet’s sophomore LP, Primary Colours… they’ve given birth to a sophomore album that drastically improves upon its predecessor, and they’ve done it with considerable intelligence and style to spare.” Drowned in Sound

“It's a dark-rock pocket symphony that's a sprawling, heavy and engaging achievement… The Horrors cut through all the bullshit of the modern goth underground…for a thrilling and ambitious return to the style's glory days. Go ahead, listen and try to form a case against goth. You'll come up short.”  Aversion

"When this band hit it, they hit it hard, with lysergic drones that are peculiarly nihilistic and open-ended. The Horrors excel at evoking the mood of that moment when you're so high that you realize this whole thing is real and dangerous and that something horrible could happen..." Boston Phoenix



LINKS
The Horrors Official Website