The Horrors
The Horrors |
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The Horrors are a band from Southend, England formed in 2005. They released their debut album Strange House, which reached number 37 on the UK Albums Chart in 2007. Their second album Primary Colours was released in 2009 and reached number 25 in the UK. The band have also guest starred in TV comedy The Mighty Boosh, under the pseudonym "The Black Tubes."
Band history
Origins (2005 - 2006)
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) through their shared interests in '60s garage rock and New Wave and Post punk influences such as The Birthday Party and Bauhaus, and in 2005 the three formed a band with Joshua Hayward (Joshua Von Grimm, 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.[1] 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.
The Horrors first gained noticeable exposure thanks to their debut single "Sheena Is a Parasite." Their second release, "Death at the Chapel," a high-profile show at London's 100 Club in July 2006, and an appearance on the cover of the NME in August, greatly increased their profile. As a result of this exposure, the band played the NME Awards Indie Rock Tour in early 2007 along with Mumm-Ra, The View and The Automatic which helped them to gain further publicity.
Strange House (2007-2008)
Having released their debut album Strange House in March 2007, The Horrors played a world tour to promote it. A slot as a support act for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in the USA in the summer was cancelled due to lack of funds[2], and the band instead headlined a US tour in June. They made a number of festival appearances throughout 2007, including appearances at the Glastonbury Festival, the Carling Weekend (on the Radio 1/NME stage), various Scandinavian festivals, the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, and Splendour in the Grass in Australia[3]; their setlists throughout the summer contained a cover of "No Love Lost" by Joy Division. The Horrors also appeared in the third series of The Mighty Boosh in December as the fictional band The Black Tubes, and supported the Arctic Monkeys on their sell-out arena tour of the UK, at which they predictably received a mixed reception. The band played an NME Awards show in 2008 with Crystal Castles, Ulterior and These New Puritans, and supported The Sonics on 23 March, their last London show until their appearance at Bethnal Green's Rich Mix on 23 May of the following year. On January 18, Counting in Fives, a documentary of the band's 2007 tour of the USA, was unveiled at the Sundance Film Festival.[4]
Primary Colours (2009 - 2010)
At the end of 2007, The Horrors announced the forthcoming recording of a new album. The album was produced by the band, Craig Silvey, Geoff Barrow of Portishead[5], and music video director Chris Cunningham. Recording took place in Bath during the summer of 2008. The band were forced to pull out of their planned appearance at the Underage Festival due to recording schedule conflicts. The band signed to XL Recordings after they left Loog Records in 2007. The only release from the band between the "She Is the New Thing" single in June 2007 and the new material in 2009 was a cover of Suicide's "Shadazz", released by Blast First Petite as part of their tribute to Alan Vega in October 2008. A few weeks before the new album's release, a number of songs from the album were leaked. The album's first single, "Sea Within a Sea", was released as a digital download-only single on 17 March 2009. A music video for the song, directed by Douglas Hart (former bassist for The Jesus and Mary Chain), was also posted on the band's website on the same day. The second album Primary Colours was officially released on 4 May 2009 to critical acclaim and reached #25 on the UK Albums Chart. The single "Who Can Say" was released on 7" vinyl one week later. Primary Colours was nominated for the 2009 Mercury Prize. NME later awarded the album first place in the 50 Best Albums of 2009.[6]
After headlining London's Offset Festival and touring Primary Colours, The Horrors said that they would like to build their own studio, so they can record at obscure hours.
Skying (2011 - Present)
In April 2010, singer Faris Badwan announced on their official forum that the band had already started working on their third album, to be called Skying which has been confirmed by Zane Lowe to be out on the 11th of July, and have been in the studio for some months.[7] A track that may be included on the new album, "Endless Blue", was first unveiled at Latitude Festival in July 2010. It was later performed at Poland's Off Festival[8] and Belgium's Lokerse Feesten in August 2010. In February 2011, Faris Badwan announced via their official forum that the album would be released for July 2011.
The band were announced to be headlining the Festival Republic Stage at the Reading and Leeds festivals in August 2011.[9][10]
The first single off Skying, titled "Still Life" premiered on the 24th of May on Zane Lowe's radio one show.
Band members
- Faris Badwan; vocals formerly known as Faris Rotter.
- Joshua Hayward, guitar also known as Joshua Third, formerly Joshua Von Grimm.
- Tom Cowan, synthesizer (on Primary Colours), bass (on Strange House), formerly known as Tomethy Furse.
- Rhys Webb, bass (on Primary Colours), organs (on Strange House), formerly known as Spider Webb.
- Joseph Spurgeon, drums formerly known as Coffin Joe.
- Temporary band members
- Freddie Cowan (Tom's brother and guitarist with The Vaccines) – guitar, replacing Joshua Third for several gigs when he was taking his exams.
Side projects
Rhys Webb and Tom Cowan have a side project called Spider and The Flies, who are influenced by BBC Radiophonics Workshop electronica, and have released an EP called Something Clockwork This Way Comes (2009). Faris has recently begun a solo project under the pseudonym of Lumina, teaming up with ex-Ipso Facto member, Cherish Kaya to record a cover of the Black Lips song "I'll Be With You". This recording appeared as a B-side on the Black Lips single "Drugs".[11] He has also formed the band Cat's Eyes with multi-instrumentalist, composer and soprano vocalist Rachel Zeffira, and has released an EP entitled Broken Glass and a full-length, self-titled album under this act in early 2011. Members of The Horrors have also played with The Diddlers (a Bo Diddley covers band), Cramped (a covers band of The Cramps) and Happy Bunny.
Discography
Albums
| Date of Release | Title | Label | UK Chart Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 March 2007 | Strange House | Loog | #37 |
| 4 May 2009 | Primary Colours | XL Recordings | #25 |
| 11 July 2011 | Skying |
EPs
| Date of Release | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 24 October 2006 | The Horrors EP | Stolen Transmission |
| 6 October 2008 | "Shadazz" (also featuring Suicide and Nic Void) | Blast First Petite |
Singles
All of the singles released by The Horrors prior to "Gloves" have been chart ineligible because they have been packaged with inserts and stickers, breaking chart rules.
| Date of Release | Title | B-side(s) | Label | UK Chart Peak | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 April 2006 | "Sheena Is a Parasite" | "Jack the Ripper" | Loog | N/A | Strange House |
| 31 July 2006 | "Death at the Chapel" | "Crawdaddy Simone" | N/A | ||
| 30 October 2006 | "Count in Fives" | "Who Says" "A Knife in Their Eye" |
N/A | ||
| 26 February 2007 | "Gloves" | "Kicking Kay" "Horrors' Theme" "Death at the Chapel" (Live) |
34 | ||
| 25 June 2007 | "She Is the New Thing" | "Sister Leonella" "Draw Japan" (Dandi Wind Remix) "Excellent Choice" (re-recorded) |
89 | ||
| 17 March 2009 | "Sea Within a Sea" | XL | N/A | Primary Colours | |
| 11 May 2009 | "Who Can Say" | "You Could Never Tell" | N/A | ||
| 4 October 2009 | "Whole New Way" | "Primary Colours" | N/A |
Music videos
| Year | Song | Director | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Sheena Is a Parasite" | Chris Cunningham[12] | Strange House |
| "Count in Fives" | Daniel Wolfe[13][14] | ||
| "Count in Fives" | Tim Mattia | ||
| 2007 | "Gloves" | Daniel Wolfe[14] | |
| "She Is the New Thing" | Corin Hardy[15] | ||
| 2009 | "Sea Within a Sea" | Douglas Hart[16][17] | Primary Colours |
| "Who Can Say" | |||
| "Mirror's Image" | Nicky Smith aka Weirdcore[18] | ||
| "Whole New Way" | Dave Ma[19] | ||
| 2011 | "Still Life" | Neil Krug[20] | Skying |
References
- ^ Stool Pigeon magazine, April 2007.
- ^ http://com2.runboard.com/bhorrors.f2.t10092 - Badwan announces cancellation of BRMC support slot
- ^ http://www.thehorrors.co.uk/tour.php — Horrors tour dates, Summer 2007
- ^ Youtube - The Horrors + Count In Fives Lead Singer Badwan has enjoyed rising tabloid fame after being linked with Peaches Geldolf and model Nina Terror
- ^ "The Horrors: Fantasy Faris and Portishead-related new album info". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ http://www.nme.com/list/50-best-albums-of-2009/159978/page/5
- ^ Available as of Dec 7, 2010: http://bhorrors.runboard.com/t14145
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUg_H__LGto
- ^ "Reading Festival Lineup 2011". Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ "Leeds Festival Lineup 2011". Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ "The Horrors' Faris Badwan to release Black Lips cover", NME, 7 August 2009, retrieved 2010-11-06
- ^ Horrors - "Sheena Is A Parasite". MTV. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
- ^ Horrors - "Count in Fives". MTV. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
- ^ a b Partizan - Music Videos - Daniel Wolfe. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
- ^ The Horrors - She is the New Thing. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
- ^ The Horrors’ Sea Within A Sea by Douglas Hart. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
- ^ The Horrors’ Who Can Say by Douglas Hart. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
- ^ The Horrors’ Mirror’s Image by Weirdcore. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
- ^ the horrors whole new way. Retrieved October 18, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ [1]. Retrieved May 7, 2011.