1. Jombler

   9

   I'm unfashionably late to the Horrors disco, after being repelled by the stench of NME, but it seems I arrived just when the party was in full swing. I've since dosed my speakers in their marvellous preceding albums, but while they can hold their own in a bar fight, 'Skying' magnificently transcends these albums. The album title proposes a band that have reached an artistic climax, an empryean eruption of psychedelic resonance, and indeed these Southend-On-Sea lads are surfing the clouds. Far from the early gothic Nick Cave/Birthday Party influences that have seasoned their early work, they have reinforced the wonderful post-punk Joy Division backdrop of their predecessor with a richer, more chromatic sound. The doors are torn down with the blinding Hacienda-tinged ‘Changing the Rain’, rich with the thumping bass tones that periodically feed Ian Brown. One feels like one stumbles into the second track, ‘You Said’, with its haphazard drumming and the kind of vocal that would have Jarvis **** scrambling for a biro, and by the 3rd minute the song has swallowed you into the rich abyss of this album. The third track languidly tips the bouncer at the door and demands little comment, but with ‘Endless Blue’ we are deceivingly sucked into an ethereal ocean before they lay down a well-deserved debt to early Vines. By ‘Dive In’, the album has shifted gear into a run of songs that I consider some of the finest work of the year. Very few bands capture their live emanation on record, but ‘Dive In’ transports you directly to that warm, euphoric live crowd and begs you to buy a ticket for their next visit to your local venue. A shimmering vibrato guitar literally engulfs you into their trance and plays voodoo with your limbs. I’m a 60’s man at heart but the distorted 80’s synths that flood into ‘Wild Eyed‘ are like the electric ravishment that engage your teeth when they sink into an old Wham Bar. Onto ‘Moving Further Away’, the krautrock-indulged epic album masterpiece, the epitome of everything that is essential and sexually magnetic about the Horrors. Thumping bass ripples circled by beautiful swirling synths, and Faris Badwan’s recurring mantra. The song eventually levels to a space that only Pete Townsend could have pervaded had he been absorbed by the British acid house scene. This is an album that repeatedly seduces you to dive into every shimmering cymbal and swing from every sizzling synth, and it needs no hype, nor praise. These words I write are dwarfed by the importance and sheer magnificence of this masterpiece. This is an album that will charm the fortunes of time and illuminate and inspire for decades to come.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     0 of 0 users said yes
2. JeffLebowski

   8

   The third album from Badwan and co. finds them continuing the purple patch they hit with primary colours, though mostly abandoning the Geoff Barrow/motorik influences of that album for a self-produced sound akin to a poppier My Bloody Valentine. Swathes of ectastic noise anchored by nimble drumming and simple but effective bass work characterize the record, with Badwan's richer, deeper voice becoming more of an asset every album. Definitely recommended for fans of shoegaze or quality 80s pop- and Simple Minds..... Best tracks - Still life, Endless Blue, I Can See Through You.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     1 of 1 users said yes
3. Deathromp

   0

   Skipping past the glaring little detail that is the title (Skying) - neither word nor adverb - whatever - artistic license today is obviously running ragged and tired - there's really no reason for The Horrors to exist - a post-punk tribute band so formulaic in style and execution they serve better as decoration. As far as the album is concerned - simply a cacophony of synthesizers fused into some sort of bland ambient goop that could pass off as any of the countless bands attempting the same tired, post-post-punk/ darkwave/ post-new wave … so tired. I'm tired.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     1 of 3 users said yes

See all 8 User Reviews