The Horrors - Skying

always baffled there isn't much more ILX love for these guys. becoming a bigger deal over here with every album; lots of 4 and 5 star reviews everywhere for the new album already from the press (NME, Mojo, Uncut, etc) their guitarist Josh *built* a studio for the band, in which they then produced the new album themselves.

maybe their image or their *old* image at least is putting some folk off?
anyay it's streaming here: http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=122&p=10668&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#more10668

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9tXe9sOWcT4/Tg8-n2HYRxI/AAAAAAAABbE/l_s_1XZs1S8/s400/TheHorrorsSkying.jpg

They still dress like and look like idiots, but I've got no quarrel with the music they make.

I liked the last one, but this just strikes me as one big derivative blur.

Kinda bored me, tbh - nothing on the last one.

Just finished listening to this for the first time, really not impresssed at all. Primary Colours still stands up but this one just doesn't have any focus. Monica Gems is the only song that stood out mainly because he does a really good Brett Anderson impression on it.

currently the 3rd best selling album in the UK behind Beyonce and Adele!

I played a show opening for the Horrors and we had bought a dozen or so goldfish. The plan was that the live goldfish would be in champagne glasses at the front of the stage, and that during the show we would knock them into the audience. Lead singer of the Horrors heard about this and pitched a fit and the club owner wouldn't let us do it. Several members of our band were even appearing on a split 7" with him, and he still wouldn't let us go through with that plan.

Of course, the goldfish all ended up in the toilet. A more dignified way to go?

I guess you could say they were...

http://www.thetoque.com/images/stories/david_caruso_sunglasses.jpg

Horrified

I've decided that I like this band. They sound good!

Anyone fancy posting a waveform of a track off this album?

Heh

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-IgGBpTigb-c/Tih5rQqi-BI/AAAAAAAABDw/Skh1WEmDW4c/s800/Screen%252520shot%2525202011-07-21%252520at%25252020.09.19.png

The plan was that the live goldfish would be in champagne glasses at the front of the stage, and that during the show we would knock them into the audience.

This seems like a completely awful and needless thing to do. I would instantly hate your band.

Interesting waveform. I've been hearing a bit of clipping on my flac lossless copy of this. The vinyl sounds a bit muffled as well. Not massivley impressed with the production and mastering.

That's pretty much enough for me to not bother checking this out. Thanks! You've saved me a tenner.

fwiw it sounds pretty good to me on my stereo at home. Very bassy but I haven't heard any clipping.

Lead singer of the Horrors heard about this and pitched a fit and the club owner wouldn't let us do it.

Yeah, I'm with faris on this one, sorry.

Sick i think you're currently being very silly

'currently'

I dunno. Maybe in a month when the CD's £7 or something in HMV.

Bit of a Chameleons vibe on this eh? Psychedelic Furs too.

There's a couple of keepers but otherwise I'm pretty dissapointed all round by 'Skying'. The madchester beats sound pretty naff and the album is full of lyrical clunkers and forced dynamics.

A bit of a let down for me given that I really liked 'Primary Colours'

Ha ha, this is on Spotify but I don't want it in my last.fm listening logs, oh god the shame.

p.s. Faris was 100% right on the goldfish thing. Ugh.

K8, you can disable scrobbling for discreet Horrors listening

BUT SPODIFY WILL STILL KNOOOOOWWWWW!!!!

ha hahahahahah OMG, so far the music sounds like that, um "baggy" Telescopes album*. I'm not sure Faris is less punchable than Stephen, mind.

*which I have to admit I genuinely love, so I'm not sure that's as much of an insult as it sounds like. Or should be.

That waveform seems a whole lot better than most other records coming out right now, surprised that one is such a deal-breaker for you Sick.

It wasn't so much the waveform as AnotherDeadHero's comment straight afterwards. If this sounded like Jim O'Rourke mixing shoegaze drone pop sounds in my mind, I'd go for it.

Ah, missed his comment, that makes more sense.

Still Life is the only one that really brings out those Simple Minds comparisons. Did we have another thread about this? Because I'm convinced that I've not only heard this before, but also made all the same comments before.

Because this is really just kind of competent, workaday shoegaze of the kind I saw dozens of bands play during the course of Sonic Cathedral. And doesn't actually ever reach the heights of total bonkersness that actually made me love bands like Telescopes. And you know, competent and workday isn't really what I want from a spacerock or shoegaze band.

agree this is kind of a blurry wash to me. sounds nice, not super memorable, liked the last record more.

Actually, I persisted with it, and the last 20 minutes of the album, it actually got memorable enough to listen to again to the last 3 songs.

Because there's a nice chugging motorik rhythm, then a wibbly wubbly Spectrum tremolo effect, then the seagulls and atmospherics off a Boards of Canada record, then the guitar solo from Baby's On Fire... and then it hit me. They're like the 2010's Primal Scream. That there is *some* good in them, but all the good is not original at all, and the original stuff is just not good.

Like, honestly, I don't expect all music to be radical and brand new and game-changing. But literally (sorry) every single moment that I've gone "ooh, I like that bit" it has been because it reminded me so clearly of another song that I already really like.

wrt that goldfish thing I have a feeling that Adam might be talking about the American garage band The Horrors here?

weirdly although i posted about them when they first came out i havent bothered listening to anything of theirs since. but their factmag mix is seriously good. say what you want about their own music but they have bloody good taste.

I like it on first couple listens. The clipping isn't that bad, could be far worse. The only parts where it could possibly be audible would be 2:25-2:40. I think it's good to keep pushing for better dynamic range and end the loudness wars, but I'm certainly not going to limit myself to perfect recordings.

They're like the 2010's Primal Scream.

Without the funny stuff, or the good stuff. Or the amusing batshit insanity.

Sort of feel that Faris should just give up on making his own music and move into some kind of svengali role for more talented bands. He's obviously got decent taste in music and knows how to nick his ideas and put them together in a vaguely interesting way (was surprised to hear a bit of Autobahn in the opening track) but he's just a bit rubbish at it himself.

Downside to the svengali idea = making a girl group-influenced album with a classically-trained soprano and making her sound like some diffident third rate Sarah Cracknell copyist from 1998. He seems to have a blind spot regarding vocals, and his grey smudge of a voice ruins this one.

Eh? Looking at the track list of the fact mix, it just seems so utterly predictable for someone with "Good Taste In Music (tm)." Kind of like all the stuff that they namecheck on the album. It's all good taste, and pre-approved and utterly nothing unexpected, or even slightly naff or embarrassing or out of nowhere in any way shape or form.

I guess to be more like Prml Scrm they'd need Andrew Weatherall and better (worse?) drugs.

I think he'd actually be worse as a svengali than fronting his band because, man, that girl group thing, I had to turn it off after about 3 songs. I think it's actually his band that are impeccable at putting together musical ideas. But part of the secret of that really genius-bonkers-batshit appeal is *not* being impeccable and sometimes getting it so wrong that it becomes right. I don't even see them doing that.

they are more than 2011's ride than 2011's primal scream. without the hooks. very boring, very repetitive, very unoriginal. the sound seems messy, blurry but not in a loveless kind of way. it's weird though they seem to be musical chamaelons copying from many totally different bands, but the end results sound very samey. there is no imagination in this music. it's lifeless and hollow.

Yeah, I'm finding the new album pretty draggy, aside from maybe the final two or three tracks. Odd thing is I bought tickets to see them next month - this was before I heard the album, and it was picking up good word of mouth. I'll still go, I think.

so i finally got around to hearing this tonight. it sounds pretty damn good to me, much better than i was expecting. don't think it's as good as the last album but i bought that one on CD and have spent some more time with it.

lol at "Monica Gems" as some lost B-side by Suede.

Why would anyone tell that goldfish story

wrt that goldfish thing I have a feeling that Adam might be talking about the American garage band The Horrors here?

if so does that mean he was in the pee pees?

http://www.discogs.com/Horrors2-Pee-Pees-The-Horrors-Pee-Pees/release/2893090

That Goldfish story is really horrible. Why in the world would anyone think that there was anything cool about needlessly killing animals for a show?

what, you never saw anyone do the old putting goldfish in champagne glasses and knocking them over on the crowd schtick?

I played a show opening for the Horrors and we had bought a dozen or so goldfish. The plan was that the live goldfish would be in champagne glasses at the front of the stage, and that during the show we would knock them into the audience. Lead singer of the Horrors heard about this and pitched a fit and the club owner wouldn't let us do it. Several members of our band were even appearing on a split 7" with him, and he still wouldn't let us go through with that plan.

Of course, the goldfish all ended up in the toilet. A more dignified way to go?

― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, July 14, 2011 4:05 PM (six years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Why am I not surprised?

Enjoying their new one, fwiw.

that's a cracking old incriminating post, i say as someone with a completely spotless record mind haha

didn't like that big closing track of the new horrors album which everyone was crazy about. they'll never top 'sea within a sea' i think

Skying was the last album of theirs I really bonded with. The last two (including the latest one) are just so meh to me.

cat's eyes are better than horrors, but ignored it seems

You Said came on at the bar the other day and sounded great

Yeah, still my absolute fave by them.

still love this

Thank you for this revive!1am listening to skying at the bar and it sounds great

Still love this. Lost my way with them after the last album. They’ve been gone a while it seems now..

there were songs over the past few that i liked, but skying remains easily my favorite.

(skimming their most recent release, 2 eps from 2021, isn't a very charming experience btw)

(i mean, i guess it sounds like the first album so if you felt like primary colours and skying were downgrades, hey this more recent stuff might be your thing. not mine tho!)

There were those two EPs in 2021 that were so off I thought it was a Soulseek fake leak

(skimming their most recent release, 2 eps from 2021, isn't a very charming experience btw)