THE HORRORS – Skying (Part 1)

The Horrors are set to release their third album, Skying, stateside in a couple weeks via XL. These guys started out as a goth-punk group in 2007 and are now releasing maybe the most upbeat record of 2011. What? Megan Bowers swings by for another dialectic as we unravel the the mysteries and bury ourselves in the British lushness of this surprisingly great album.

From: Brandon Hall
To: Megan Bowers

Megan! What’s up, dude? I gotta say, I kind of can’t stop listening to this album, which also means I can’t go anywhere because we only have a streaming version until it comes out in the States. But who am I kidding? I spend most of my time in front of a computer anyway.

So, details: This is The Horror’s third album. Their first, Strange House, released in 2007 saw a British band doing the goth thing about as hard as they could, including stage names even John Waters would appreciate: Faris Rotter, Spider Webb, Tomethy Furse, Joshua Von Grimm and Coffin Joe. They even had a Chris Cunningham directed video for their first single, “Sheena is a Parasite,” which, like most Cunningham videos, is a terrifying thrill and economically packed into a mere minute and 38 seconds. But you’re more familiar with their earlier efforts than I, so I’ll let you speak to the growth of the band.

I will say, though, that the band has seemingly done away with a lot of their goth-punk affectations and made something incredibly, indelibly British. I’m actually shocked by how Skying seems to enshroud itself in every conceivable British music stereotype. By which I mean, if I told you to close your eyes and think of British rock music, this is what you would think of. Stone Roses, Joy Division, Blur, The Cure, The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd, and, obviously, The Beatles. (Maybe not Radiohead, so much, but who needs ’em?) There is a distinctive sound in the history of British music and The Horrors seem to have tapped into it effortlessly.

I wouldn’t even go so far as to say these bands are influences, exactly. At least not consciously. Nothing on the album sounds like they’re trying to sound one way or another. Every song feels natural and easy, wholly their own, the sound of their British brethren so firmly ingrained into their songwriting that they manage to come off as neither derivative nor unoriginal, yet still firmly cemented in the company of their countrymen.

Megan, last time we talked, I felt you had a problem with the very prevalent 80s takeover of our contemporary musical landscape, but this band on this album feels like a 1988 stadium filler, doesn’t it? It’s huge and lush and danceable. Mopey goth rock, this is absolutely not. They could pack the The Haçienda for a nonstop, geeked-out weekend right alongside New Order. Please don’t tell me that’s a bad thing.

Also, did you ever think the goth-punks of Strange House would make an album so infectiously…upbeat?

80s then, 80s now, 80s forever!

Brandon

Stream the full album here!