*****The concept of The Horrors has always appealed. A great name, a great look, a great concept all round. The only problem was the 'concept' was all you really seemed to get. 'All style, no substance' was the cliched maxim doing the rounds but even the most sympathetic observer couldn't find much to prove otherwise.
Nonetheless, the band have regrouped, rethought and the result is actually quite astounding. On first listen, 'Primary Colours' leaves you struggling to believe this is the same band responsible for debut 'Strange House'. Graced with an aural palette of sound, this is a far cry from that album's scratchy proto-punk and strips away all previous preconceptions in an instant.
The influences are there for all to see, Neu!, The Cure etc. etc. but although many see this as cause for criticism, The Horrors should be congratulated on having drawn upon them to create a sound that allows their misanthropic rhetoric to flourish.
'Mirror's Image' bursts into life with it's distorted psychedelia and tale of temptation, resistance and 'crippling shyness', subconsciously urging the subject to, "Draw strength [and] walk on into the night". 'Who Can Say' is a triumph of scuzzy guitar and love lost, it's spoken refrain followed wonderfully by a chiming melody.
Everywhere you turn there is a more adventurous, more interesting and ultimately, more enjoyable record. You can hear echoes of Suede in the verses of 'Do You Remember' and even the Sex Pistols when it comes to 'New Ice Age'. Who cares for originality when the 'rip-offs' are this good?
'Sea Within a Sea', swooning in as the album closer, encapsulates all the best aspects of the proceeding tracks. Faris Badwan's vocals sound particularly haunting on lines such as, "...We walk alone/Bare foot on wicked stone", and by the time the song bursts into a rainbow of riffs and metronomic beats, you realise you could well be listening to a defining moment for this clutch of Shoreditch scenesters.
A triumph - scepticism's shackles have been shaken loose.
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