The Horrors

I realize that I typically post pretty little mp3 ditties on this blog. Well, not today. Let's go in a vastly different direction. Why? Let me explain.

On a personal note, I've always been a huge fan of the melodic. I love a nice tune. But, like most people, I also have an alter-ego that sometimes craves the complete opposite of what I may normally enjoy. Musically, this (not so) "dark side" has led me to ingest copious quantities of some heavily atonal (art damage) music over the past few years. Although I can typically only tolerate it in small doses, I have constant recent cravings for bands like The Fall and Suicide, not to mention a strange obsession with outfits like The Screamers and Cabaret Voltaire.

On a non-personal note, it's always interesting to see a young band take old influences and concoct them into something familiar yet fresh. I see that happening here with The Horrors. Look at the pictures. Yes, they look like Fall-Out Boy or Panic At The Disco, but these songs sound like NYC or Los Angeles circa 1975-1979. Maybe I'm missing something here, but are these songs really that different than what a band like The Screamers was trying to do? Granted, it's a little polished, but not really that much.

The Horrors have a great chance to do for Synth Punk what The Strokes did for The Velvet Underground & Television. Even if you don't love it, you have to at least admit that a song like "Sheena Is A Parasite" is light years ahead of She Wants Revenge. And those guys somehow managed to go pretty mainstream.

The Horrors : "Count In Fives" (mp3).
The Horrors : "Sheena Is A Parasite" (mp3) / You Tube video.
The Horrors : "Jack The Ripper" (mp3).

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