The Horrors - 'Skying'

When the Horrors made the jump from garage rock-flavored punk to shoegaze on 2009’s Primary Colours, the result was revelatory, to say the least. I think I said something to the effect of “Got-damn! I say got-damn!” the first time I heard it, and the record continues to be a bright spot in shoegaze, a worthy successor to My Bloody Valentine and Ride. Here was a record with a throbbing, vibrant sonic array at its disposable, something that managed to sound dissonant and ethereal in equal measures.

But you can only pull that kind of a shocking turnaround once, which is why the group’s follow-up, Skying, is nearly, almost, ever so slightly disappointing, to the extent that it doesn’t bear the mind-blowing progression that marked its predecessor. Primary Colours was a thrilling left field follow-up to Strange House; Skying is a logical progression. Still, when you’re following up such a strong artistic breakthrough, being predictable isn’t so bad.

Skying still falls under the shoegaze tag. Yet it’s not quite as abrasive Colours, and that’s a big difference. If Colours was so loud it made you see sounds, Skying is the soft comedown, comparatively. Shit, the first two tracks, “Changing the Rain” and “You Said,” walk at a midtempo pace, dropping melodies just like honey while being a better second coming of the Stone Roses than Second Coming itself. I’m also going to throw in a Psychedelic Furs reference, if no other reason than songs like “Endless Blue” have saxophone.

What fans get here is a play-with-the-margins kind of album. If you got onboard with Primary Colours, congratulations, here’s another record of swirling, noisy pop, albeit with more everything – more quiet parts, more post-punk inclinations, more sax. But you also get an it-ain’t-broke kind of album, one that delivers on all the promise of Colours. Skying is nearly an hour in length, but it carries a hypnotic haze throughout.

If Colours was the sound of the Horrors showing off their record collections, Skying is them rising up to meet them. It proves that Colours wasn’t a fluke. It reveals that a band that used to rely on shock tactics for attention actually had something going on underneath. It acts as the quieter yin to Colours’ searing yang. Also it’s just a straight up good album.

The Horrors - 'Primary Colours'

Strap in motherfucker. In order to appreciate Primary Colours, the sophomore effort from former U.K. horror punks The Horrors, folks might be better off blissfully unaware of the band’s previous output. See, pretty much everything appealing about the band’s debut, Strange House, is gone. Primary Colours drops garage rock posturing in favor of ’80s underground – Psychedelic Furs, Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, and Siouxsie and The Banshees paint the album’s spectrum. The lyrics are accordingly less shock-centric and more gothic. Since comparing Primary Colours and Strange House is an apples/oranges debate, I’m willing to take a mature, moderate stance on the record.

Primary Colours is the best fucking album of 2009 yet.

Guitarist Joshua Third pulls out some of the sweetest tricks this side of Kevin Shields. The gap between his swirling leads and orchestral strings, like on “I Only Think of You,” is barely there, creating an intriguing blend. Bassist Spider Webb lays down thick, dirty dirges. The former keyboardist switched places with Tomethy Furse, and the switch is mutually beneficial. Furse further enhances Third’s aura, updating The Horrors’ keyboard usage from “discordantly tinny” to “murky and sexy.” Vocalist Faris Badwan holds it down with his Ian Curtis baritone. And as for drummer Coffin Joe, well, he bangs the drums hard and has a sweet stage name.

At a lean 10 tracks, the record never gets dull. The front half comes loaded with dissonance and aggression. Sure, lead-off track “Mirror’s Image” starts off all ambient and techno-minimalist, but it’s just a big ol’ set-up for some dance-pocalypse. It kicks into discordant gear about 90 seconds, continuing through “Three Decades” and “Who Can Say.” The post-punk angst gets dialed up on “Who Can Say” during the bridge. Over a half-time beat replete with tambourine, Badwan sums up dumping his chick with “And when I told her I didn’t love her anymore / she cried / And when I told her her kisses were not like before / she cried / And when I told her another girl had caught my eye / she cried / And then I kissed her, with a kiss that could only mean goodbye." He says it with this perfectly detached, moody, British tone that turns the song into the inverse “Just Like Honey.”

The second half loses some frenetic swagger in favor of even more churning atmosphere. “Scarlett Fields” and especially “I Only Think of You” have an excellent comedown effect. Not that the record ever gets flaccid; these songs aren’t exactly ballads. Besides, track eight, “I Can’t Control Myself,” forces the tension back into play. While the record has an excellent give-n-take flow, it feels almost as if the first nine tracks are building towards “Sea Within a Sea,” an eight-minute piece that explores every nook and/or cranny Primary Colours built up during the previous 37. It’s epic and spacey and boasts a pretty neat keyboard trick near the end.

This is how I wish Interpol sounded. Primary Colours slinks through assorted cool poses, dark without being morbid, sullen without being depressing. I know music elitism means only liking a band’s earlier works and whatever, but now is the time to hop on the Horrors bandwagon. As for the old freaks and weirdos, the sounds aren’t psychotic anymore, but that’s just part of the artistic growth.