Shazamers' Blog

Back in 2007 few would have predicted that this group of gothic upstarts from Southend would evolve to become one of the U.K’s finest mainstream indie acts. Debut album ‘Strange House’s niche garage sound and self conscious styling was almost completely eradicated by their second L.P ‘Primary Colours’. Produced by Geoff Barrow (Portishead) and  Chris Cunningham and released on XL Recordings,  the record manages to mix  post-punk, new wave  and krautrock seamlessly to create a coherent album with great pop sensibility, the stand out track being the album’s closer ‘Sea Within A Sea’ .

‘Still Life’ is a continuation of the sound The Horrors forged on ‘Primary Colours’. The debut single from third album ‘Skying ‘ (2011) was recorded at the bands self-built London studio and also produced by the band. Over a steady groove, layers of backwards guitar steadily build to a crescendo of brass, with singer Faris Badwan repeating the anthemic chorus line “When you wake up, you will find me”. The single is certainly reminiscent of 80’s bands such as Simple Minds, Echo & The Bunnymen and Ultravox, it’s psychedelic feel is captured beautifully in Oliver Murray’s music video.

The single was named Zane Lowe’s ‘Hottest Record In The World’ in May and subsequently ‘Skying’ charted at number 5 in the U.K and number 18 in the U.S Billboard Rock Albums. Faris Badwan has had further success with side project Cat’s Eyes which saw him team up with Canadian soprano and multi instrumentalist  Rachel Zeffira and The Horrors have recently remixed Lady Gaga track ‘Bloody Mary’ for her current album ‘Born This Way – The Remix’.

Andy Becker Shazam's Tags Of 2011 The Horrors

American lo-fi producer John Maus has been putting out music for the past 20 years. His third solo studio album ‘We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves’ (Ribbon) sees the former Ariel Pink and Animal Collective collaborator come up with some of his most accessible material to date.

Here Maus creates lush arrangements of swirling synthesisers, primitive drum patterns and seductive melody lines, sewn together with ethereal tape-echo vocals. His love of analogue production is certainly comparable with former partner Pink’s earlier material – both fusing elements of 60’s psychedelia, 70’s P-funk and 80’s electronica.

Tonight he takes to the stage with only a microphone in his hand and a laptop (providing only a backing track) on the floor. As he launches into opening track ‘Quantum Leap’ his body starts to convulse and shake as if performing some sort of shamanic ritual. The crowd reciprocate and start to mirror Maus, air punching and head banging their way through the set that includes new favourites ‘Believer’ and ‘Cop Killer’.

While there’s no doubt Maus is a unique talent and a captivating performer, tonight’s performance left us wondering how much better it would have sounded with a full line up of musicians. In the case of Maus & Pink, the latter’s live band Haunted Graffiti has been a welcome progression, with their refinement of Pink’s earlier work. Here Maus seems to be trying to convey something more primal, but currently this live show doesn’t give his latest release the justice it deserves.

Andy Becker Gigs/ Events, New Music