The Horrors still horrify, but not in a good way
Lily Le is left disappointed by their live "offering"
The most offensive thing The Horrors have probably ever done is release Strange House. The best thing they have ever done would have to be a toss-up between recognising this embarrassment and recording Sea within a Sea. What lies inbetween was the live show I attended.
To be honest, when you are being supported by Cerebral Ballzy (who can only be described in a phrase assembled by a disgruntled friend during their support slot: “I don’t understand why I’m not being paid to be here”) you don’t have much to live up to as long as you don’t sound like a mass of incomprehensible noise.
It’s not that The Horrors were bad live, in fact compared to many other bands they were rather good, but none of the songs enhanced what is so great about their recorded material or brought alive the trippy atmosphere they create so ingeniously.
The band members instead conveyed an air of bored teenagers belonging to the emo adolescent subculture, who had been dragged out of bed and forced to play on stage but had no desire to do so. The light show and atmosphere echoed the music which was darker and heavier than on record, and it was a shame that the keyboard couldn’t be heard very well as a lot of the best parts of each song revolve around it.
The biggest disappointment was during ‘Sea within a Sea’ in which the intro and outro seemed to be repeated in an ad hoc manner. Sure, they are the best parts of the song, but it felt as though the band didn’t put bother putting any thought into deciding how many repeats would have produced the greatest effect in a live environment. Instead of recreating that unique Horrors vibe, the song instead sounded lazy and flat.
I walked away as a slightly disappointed fan, but relieved that at least I didn’t have to endure anything from Strange House.
