You've really got to hand it to The Horrors. It seemed that their gimmicky goodness had worn itself out almost before it had even had a chance to develop back in 2006. A bunch of London youngsters playing vintage zombie rock via The Stranglers and dressing up like characters from an Edward Gorey comic come to life... sounds promising, right? Ah, yes. But then NME came along with their patented "British Music 'Zine Touch of Death" technique and slapped the boys on the cover of their joke of a magazine before they'd even finished recording their debut EP. Let's face it: bands with a tunnel-vision approach to making music rarely survive past their first big break, and it seemed that The Horrors would be no exception: their debut full-length Strange House was all style and very little substance. But now they've returned in 2009 with a proper follow-up, and damned if it isn't a wonder of an album. Oceans of synth have replaced the cheesy Screaming Lord Sutch-style organ vamps of Strange House, and odd and awkward little ditties about drawing Japan, counting in fives, or what-the-fuck-ever have been replaced by pocket symphonies drawn from the playbooks of Joy Division, The Jesus & Mary Chain, and Suicide. "Mirror's Image" and "Who Can Say" are glorious odes to misery, while "I Can't Control Myself" burbles and shakes with barely-controlled energy.
And though it's hard for me to say, I know you're better off this way.
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