1,376 THE HORRORS, Bristol Rough Trade Records, Sunday 23rd March 2025

 

Another Rough Trade album release show, and this time it’s from a band that time (almost) forgot… The Horrors, cartoon goths turned post-punk acolytes turned increasingly synth-powered purveyors of eerie atmospheric and metronomic Krautrock, had last been sighted on their “V” album tour, on another splendid “live” showing at the now-sadly defunct Bierkeller back in Autumn 2017 (gig 1,058). Since then, however, nothing. Nowt. Nada. Zip. For eight long years it actually seemed The Horrors had crept back into their crypt, joining Bela Lugosi in the long sleep of the eternal. That is, until news filtered through from the beyond, of a new album, and a Bristol release show. Aw, go on then…

Knowing that that damn bridge was still keeping the M4 shut between J18 and 19, however, I kept an eye on my SatNav ETA all afternoon, although I nearly ended up leaving late due to getting hooked in on a film (the schmaltzy “It Ends With Us”, I have to admit...) However, my 5.30 departure was still showing a 6.45 arrival as I left the M4 at J18, deciding on a whim to follow my SatNav directions down a country lane to shave 5 minutes off the journey. Big mistake. 5 minutes later I was sat in an unmoving queue as my ETA extended… and extended… and extended. Bah! After another 5 minutes of moving about 10 yards, and with my ETA now at 7.30, I flipped it around and hared back to the main road, tanking it as much as possible along winding but at least moving country roads, eventually coming in trough the armpit end of Brizzle and dumping the motor at 10 past 7. Luckily reports of The Horrors starting their set at 7 proved inaccurate, so I had time to catch my breath, squeeze into a house right spot a few rows back in this busy room (this one being so popular, in fact, that they’d added a matinee event earlier today!) and enjoy some chat about The Chameleons and The National with a fellow punter, before The Goblin King, Faris Badwan, led a contracted 3-piece version of the band on, fashionably late at 7.40. “A Horrors experiment, playing as a 3-piece,” Faris later said, but with a huge bank of keyboards sufficient to land a 747 with, this was no “stripped back” or “acoustic” performance…anyway, they’re more synthetic than acoustic?! 

Anyway, opener “Mirror’s Image” snuck in surreptitiously with a synth pitter patter courtesy of keyboardist Amelia Kidd, followed by a big bassy beat overlay, whilst Faris, resembling a “Saint Julian”-era Cope only more like a distorted City Hobgoblin, ten times his height and one tenth his weight (!), draped himself over his mic stand like a half man, half preying mantis, to deliver his haunting baritone vocal, whilst bassist Rhys Webb underpinned the beat with a distinctly Peter Hook-like low, resonant bassline. New number “The Silence That Remains” featured a muffled synth beat redolent of “She’s Lost Control”, with Faris’ vocals particularly echoey, adding to the spell of mystery and menace woven by the atmospheric synths, and oldie “Who Can Say” was more upbeat, propelled by a growling, almost gravelly bassline.

“More Than Life”, another “Night Life” cut, was for me the best of the 3 new ones tonight; almost an 80’s throwback in mood and songcraft, this pulsing and pulsating number gave reverential nods to the likes of early Human League and Talk Talk. Then Faris quipped, “this [room] is literally what Rhys’ living room is like! We did most of the record there…”, before the sweeping, almost stately Bunny-esque feel of a swaying “Still Life”. The absorbing and occasionally discordant “Sea Within A Sea” saw a beatific Faris clasping a front row punter’s hand, almost as if to keep himself upright (!), then this 7-song vignette concluded with the Krautrock industrial bleakness and Chameleons-like verse construction of a final new number, “Lotus Eater”, before Faris thanked us for our attention, leaving with, “see you in a moment…”

By now I’d wormed my way to the back of the room so was one of the first in line for the signing, chatting with a fellow punter (and fellow David!). On my turn, Rhys complimented my old school goth Bauhaus tee and Edvard Munch “Scream” shirt ensemble, so I retorted with a story of my first Horrors “live” experience, the black balloon fiasco of gig 723, waaay back in 2007 (!), causing Faris to recoil at the memory and declare that, “a one-off…”. Despite this gentle ribbing, I found them personable folk and left declaring my intention to catch them on their proper tour later this year, before a much easier drive home (ignoring my SatNav and following the diversion signs!) got me home in half the time it took to get there! So, hibernation now being over, The Horrors have re-emerged, blinking into the light. Welcome back!

1,058 THE HORRORS, Baba Naga, Bristol Bierkeller, Wednesday 25th October 2017

Once again I find myself in a seemingly familiar position with The Horrors; looking for validation in their “live” performance after a new album of their dark, post-punk meets (increasingly) libidinous Krautrock synthpop dance (this time in their appropriately named 5th album “V”) which whilst listenable, offered no great departure or development from its’ predecessor. Could The Horrors have found their groove, only to be in danger of it turning into a rut? An announcement of a gig at the Bierkeller, a smaller venue to their last Bristol jaunt (October 2014, gig 927 on the “Luminous” tour) added to my slight concern, but hey, I booked a ticket anyway as they'd been good value “live” before - well, apart from the Munsters-lite goth black balloon phase of their infancy, anyway!

A fairly easy drive down the M4 saw me parking up in the Rupert Street car park around the corner from the venue and getting in after a short wait at 8. Back to the elegantly run-down Bierkeller, scene of so many drunken rock’n’roll nights for me in the 80’s! I took a pew towards the back, but was tempted down the front to check out openers, Baba Naga, on at 8.15. They kicked in with an opener which was all Eastern style psych-guitar licks, reminiscent of the intro of The Doors' classic “The End”. However as soon as the thudding, ham-fisted drums hit, it degenerated into tuneless, lumpen pseudo blues/ psych sludge and     overwhelming wah-wah riffery, with vocals buried so deep they'd probably need to be drilled for. One  number indistinguishable from the next, they recalled that horrible lot Endless Boogie, or the worst excesses of Secret Machines. After an interminable 25 minutes, I wasn't even sure of how many numbers they played - pick a number between 2 and 5! - but I knew that they were all shit!

Joined the Horrors broad church (mixtures of goth punk types, students and old rock lags - I was by no means the oldest here!) down the front, stage left, head in the monitors but on a flat piece of floor so as to not risk damaging my knee, aggravated by a trip on holiday (!), as swathes of dry ice enveloped the floor (does anything else come in swathes, I wonder?). The Horrors themselves finally emerged onto a red backlit and strobe-splattered stage, easing into the loose-limbed Tubeway Army-like sheet synth of new CD opener “Hologram”, monochrome-clad and angular Goblin King vocalist Faris Badwan emerging last, then flailing around as if exhorting this relatively slow number to speed up a bit! Luckily, the more aggressive, darker “Machine” was next up, “V”’s best track given even more seething power “live”, and by the soaring JAMC-like oldie “Who Can Say”, Faris’ suitably dispassionate vocal a feature, The Horrors were in full flight.

Merely pretty darn good on CD, The Horrors are outstanding “live”, truly coming alive onstage, the songs given added power and potency and utterly making sense. And Faris is a consummate frontman; a stretched Marc Almond, climbing on the monitors to accentuate his already-impressive height, kinetic, all action and angles, teasing and tempting, he was a riveting visual presence throughout. “Mirror Image” was tough and lean, underpinned with a staccato keyboard pattern and droney guitar riffery, and Faris acknowledged the enthusiastic response with, “this feels like a home town show - thank you very much!” before the pulsating Stereolab-esque Krautrock metronomics of “Sea Within A Sea”, another looped keyboard riff powering this number to a growling, dissonant climax.

More compliments from The Goblin King for, “being a fantastic crowd,” before the elegiac opening to “Weighed Down” morphed into a heavily gloomy, slow-burn snarl. And whilst the latter stages of the set drifted lazily past in a whirling marshmallow haze, the penultimate “Endless Blue” snapped into ferocious life for its’ eventual denouement, and set closer “Still Life” was a suitably widescreen way to end a startlingly good set as it started; in washes of Doors-like keys and Tubeway Army/ Kraftwerk robotic synth. The libidinous groove of “Ghost” and the very 80’s (as in, Soft Cell/ Depeche Mode 80’s) “Something To Remember Me By” closed out a superb performance. A brief word and set-list signature from bassist Joshua Hayward (who enjoyed my “stretched Marc Almond” comment on Faris!) before I hit the road afterwards, suitably validated. While they keep delivering performances of this quality, you can bet I’ll keep coming back for more Horrors!

927 THE HORRORS, Telegram, Bristol O2 Academy, Wednesday 1 October 2014

I’m such a horrible person, me… rather than spending my 9^th Wedding Anniversary at home with my lovely wife, or indeed even taking her out on the town (as it were), I’m off on my own down to Brizzle to catch former black balloon comic Goth troupe turned early 80’s dark rockist and Krautrock/ baggy disciples The Horrors! After flying under my radar for so long, thanks to that “Munsters” style initial sighting back in 2007 (gig 723), they’d impressed last time out (gig 837), opening my 2012 gig year with some absorbing rock tomfoolery. I confess the new album “Luminous” hasn’t made much of an impression on me, being no great departure from the previous effort “Skying” and a little more devoid of memorable tuneage, but I wasn’t going to let that little detail stop me from checking their 2014 incarnation out!

 

Hit the road at ¼ to 7, driving swiftly down the M4 but then hitting horrendous slow traffic trying to get into Bristol. Apparently they’ve made a permanent speed limit change to the end of the M32 – from 60 to 40. Ridiculous! I therefore took half an hour from junction to car park (bah!) and arrived, a little frustrated, but still in time to check out openers Telegram. Good thing too, as they impressed mightily with some brash blasts of dark, expansive, amphetamine-fast punky power and swagger. I took time warming to the vocalist’s slightly reedy voice and very Welsh singing accent, but everything else was good, with the Doors-like driving groove and soaring chorus of “Aeons” a mid-set highlight. Some rather clever and selective plagiarists here; odd riffs or choral hooks sounded naggingly familiar, but I couldn’t quite place them! “This last one’s for the ghost of the balcony,” announced the vocalist for their last number, “Folly”, a suitably dry-ice enshrouded and dark spooky number to end a damn fine set, which recalled Marion and My Vitriol.

 

A word about the balcony here; it was shut tonight, with plenty of space on the floor around my usual stage-left spot, even as the witching hour approached. A surprisingly low Bristol turnout for The Horrors tonight, methinks… nevertheless, the band took the darkened stage at 9, easing into pounding, loose-limbed opener “Chasing Shadows”, the lead-off track from their current album. Vocalist Faris Badwan, the Goblin King of gig 837, appeared last, leather-clad and angular, throwing expressive shapes from the outset like a young Julian Cope, along to his band’s predominantly bass and synth led music. Third number, the oldie “Who Can Say”, was a more potent, strident Jesus And Mary Chain sonic groove, otherwise the set veered from libidinous and freeform baggy slightly-delic dance, to more driving metronomic Stereolab-esque Krautrock, with Faris’ vocals drifting hazily over the top, like a cloud of evaporated meringue, and the backlit laser and dry ice combining to create a compelling visual spectacle. Clearly preferring mood, texture and atmosphere to song structure, The Horrors tonight weaved a musical spell; music to bliss out and sway along to, like a pastoral acid trip or half remembered dream, so I duly closed my eyes and swayed along!

 

“Endless Blue”, with its’ abrupt mid-song tempo change, was a highlight, with the pink backlit spotlights, mixed with the smoke, giving the entirely appropriate, out-of-focus, impression of staring at 3D without the 3D glasses on! The staccato synth and dramatic riffery of “Mirrors Image” segued into the synth powered, Tubeway Army-esque “Still Life” which was the set highlight, smoothly building to a roaring crescendo, like an aircraft revving to take off. “I See You” then closed out a set which was never less than absorbing and thoroughly enjoyable, and at times tremendous.

 

“Thanks for being such a great crowd,” announced the otherwise taciturn Faris, before final number, the lengthy, sprawling “Moving Further Away”, which recalled the European synth travelogues of early 70’s Kraftwerk, before again building to a stretched crescendo of noise, smoke and light, with Faris directing operations through the haze. A splendid way to end a 1 ½ hour performance which for me, cemented The Horrors growing reputation as purveyors of intriguing sonic mood and atmosphere. Grabbed a set-list, then chatted with Telegram’s back rows at the merch stand on my way out, getting my previously grabbed Telegram set-list signed and being pleased to discover that their guitarist had actually heard of Marion! A startlingly swift drive home, feeling less horrible about seeing 2 fine performances from Telegram and The Horrors!

837 THE HORRORS, Toy, Oxford O2 Academy 2 , Thursday 19 January 2012

The Horrors, for me, are proof that a leopard can indeed change its spots, or at least colour them a slightly different shade of black! I’d first encountered this lot 5 years ago, on the NME Brats Bus Tour (gig 723), when they’d played sub Alien Sex Fiend doomy electronic Goth, generally come across like a somewhat comic Munsters (black balloons!), and been well and truly blown off by the Mighty Automatic. I’d therefore dismissed them as one trick ponies (bats?) and ignored the critical acclaim heaped upon their sophomore effort, “Primary Colours”, a couple of years back. Silly me. After deciding to investigate, following similar acclaim for current CD “Skying”, I’d found “Primary Colours” as much a deliciously intriguing blend of JAMC wall of noise guitar rock and expansive and evocative Bunnymen-like 80’s rockism, as I’d found their current release a head-on collision of absorbing Krautrock synth and slightly baggy rhythm swagger. Good stuff, either way, and definitely a reinvented band worthy of seeing “live” – without the black balloons this time, I hope!

So t’was that I headed down to Oxford on a blustery Thursday evening for this, the first gig of 2012 and the first with our new Skoda! Paranoid about parking it, I had to wait 10 minutes, then fight over a spot in the usual Tescos Car Park, before hitting the venue for this sold-out show via a double queue, which meant I missed all but the last half number of support act Toy. Apparently half of indie no-marks Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong, they’re now monotonous gloomy robotic rhythm types, going for The Horrors Mark 2 sound, but ending up like Secret Machines instead. Still, a bit of a snap judgement, this, on the strength of one half-number...

This was a rescheduled show, following October’s postponement after vocalist Faris Badwan had voice problems, and one could feel the pent-up anticipation in this diverse sell-out crowd (rock dads as well as the youthful Horrors massive!), as The Velvet Underground and some other noisy tosh (probably also The Velvet Underground!) was played over the PA. Finally the lights dimmed, and The Horrors embarked onto the dry-ice choked stage just after 9, led by leather-jacketed Goblin King Faris, who perversely wished us, “Happy New Year,” before easing into the loose-limbed, libidinous dark groove of opener “Changing The Rain” (which “live” reminded me a bit of Chapterhouse’s shoegaze epic “Pearl”!). A strident and powerful “Mirror’s Image” followed, Faris a tall and commanding stage presence already grabbing the attention, and, despite being momentary halted by synth trouble, they kept the momentum with a superb “I Can See Through You”, “Skying”'s best number and a highlight tonight.

“You’re a smashing crowd,” declared the Goblin King politely, as the normally reticent Oxford audience went nuts, with a baying moshpit throughout. The kids love The Horrors, what can I say? The set mid-section answered my long-held query as to what a Goth-dance Bunnymen would sound like, before a strident, gear-changing “Endless Blue” recalled The Close Lobsters’ roaring “Mother Of God”, no less. Some drawn-out feedback preceded a stately “Still Life”, epic and robust, to round off a short, 50 minutes set. However they weren’t done, the layered Mary Chain-isms of their best number “Who Can Say” kicking off a resounding encore, which was rounded off by a lengthy, brooding and menacing Krautrock epic “Moving Further Away”, itself culminating in a crescendo of feedback and dramatic white strobe.

Fine stuff. Another band in thrall to the 80’s, sure, but this lot are engorging a wide array of 80’s rock styles and regurgitating them in a chameleonic, primordial soup, proving themselves the unlikeliest of contenders in the process. Colour me wrong; The Horrors are no joke band, but a very promising and inventive force to be reckoned with. And no black balloons this time!