All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Urb

If The Horrors began as a Halloween novelty, Primary Colours is like a twisted ending right out of the Twilight Zone--a hype beast that turned out to be a real monster.

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100

No Ripcord

The Horrors instead set out to redefine the band and its purpose, their second album an exciting result.

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Drowned In Sound

Primary Colours is a reminder that young British bands can actually progress to brilliant new heights, and perhaps, just perhaps, the occasional surprise in these media saturated times isn’t as endangered a beast as previously thought.

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musicOMH.com

If there's a more surprising album this year, we'll be, er, um, surprised; Primary Colours is one of the best albums of 2009 so far.

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New Musical Express

Time will tell how Primary Colours stands up to the likes of "Loveless" or "Psychocandy," but right now, this feels like the British art-rock album we’ve all been waiting for.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

The Horrors have gone from terrifying to haunting, an effect that lingers far longer.

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Mojo

The Horrors are operating at a way more advanced level, dragging rock, feedback-drenched, electronic and electrifying, into a new decade. [Jun 2009, p.101]

Q Magazine

It seems they've raised their game in hallucinogenic style. [Jun 2009, p.135]

Uncut

The quintet's transformation from schlocky garage urchins to ambassadors of thrilling new-wave can largely be attributed to Portishead's Geoff Barrow, who, alongside Chris Cunningham, produced "Primary Colours," uncovering a formidable band beneath the haircuts. [Jun 2009, p.86]

Dot Music

While it'd be ridiculously premature to cast The Horrors as the future of anything, this is a bold and often brilliant step in that direction.

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Prefix Magazine

Like the rest of Primary Colours, this is the sound of a band finding themselves out of favor and having to really strive for greatness. The Horrors will still have a hard time winning over new converts, but they’ve done a magnificent job of confounding expectations with this release.

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The Guardian

Even at their most ordinary, they now sound like the Psychedelic Furs featuring Kevin Shields, which is no bad thing. But the biggest surprise, given their prior commitment to brevity, is how fully they inhabit the longer songs.

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Pitchfork

The Horrors' shoegazer makeover aside, the real story here is Badwan's growing confidence as a singer, and his willingness to sound more scared than scary. Primary Colours loses its radiance when he reverts back to bogeyman type.

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cokemachineglow

The pure emotion and aggressiveness isn’t suppressed or transformed into something else, but rather just given room for some thought, allowed to open itself up and find the strange flowers within.

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All Music Guide

As bold and listenable as it is, Primary Colours is occasionally scattered, giving the impression that the band is trying on different sounds for size--although the fact that most of it works so well is actually more surprising than how different it is than their earlier work.

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Under The Radar

Primary Colours doesn't hit its stride until the very end, however, with the title track and the 'Sea Within A Sea,' where at times it feels like there is no sight of land. [Summer 2009, p.66]

Rolling Stone

Against all odds, and for no earthly reason at all, these London goth-punk fashion plates suddenly sound as demented and hungry as they look.

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Spin

The result boasts an admirably moody menace, but lacks the debut's darkly comic drive.

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PopMatters

At times exhausting, at other times exhilarating, Primary Colours is more an experience than an album and, despite its flaws, one that deserves to be heard.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 24 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Matthew F. gave it a10:
Shoegaze is back, the best album I've heard this year.

Nick gave it a9:
An incredible improvement from Strange House, and has the words Mercury Prize written all over it.

karen M gave it a10:
Brilliantly dark and atmospheric...I listen to this album repeatedly and never tire of it!

Mark B gave it a9:
Just great....'three decades' is incredible.

Joe S gave it a7:
This is a very good album, and there's no denying they have made a large progression with this release. Still, I miss the sound of Strange House. It was just so much fun. I almost feel like they have given up a part of their identity by letting go of the organ. It's like Jethro Tull without the flute, you know? Overall this is a solid album, but it wasn't quite "horrific" enough for me.

Uncle E gave it a9:
Excellent, best 'bum of the year thus far!

armando p gave it a10:
This album maybe the "album of the year" but is still in fight with Merriweather Post Pavillion.

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Primary Colours

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