The Horrors review
The Horrors rock Trinity
Southend five-piece The Horrors have never been known to intentionally ‘put on a show’. They pussyfoot on stage tonight in a casual, unannounced manner and embark on a set that, whether they like it or not, craves attention and is very much deserved of it.
The Horrors open the show with Changing The Rain. Its stomping parade beats and euphoric synth-heavy choruses was also the opening track of 2011’s Skying, the album that elevated Faris Badwan and co out of semi-underground attention to put them firmly in the limelight. In fact, Skying makes up most of tonight’s show; other colourful offerings include I Can See Through You, Endless Blue and the colossal pre-encore Still Life. They all work phenomenally well. A signifier, perhaps, to the longevity The Horrors are likely to enjoy.
There is little in the way of material from their earlier years tonight and the band focus on tracks from their second and third albums, Primary Colours and Skying. Mirrors Image, Sea Within a Sea and Who Can Say all provide the evening’s noisier interludes while the decidedly upbeat sounds of Skying contrast nicely with the more amorphous feel of its predecessor.
The Horrors are on form tonight. Faris Badwan towers over the mic stand while shaggy-haired guitarist Joshua Hayward rocks the feral beats of The Horrors’ back catalogue, rattling Trinity to its core. The Horrors haven’t got lost in the euphoria of their success and, to the delight on the leather-heavy crowd, it doesn’t look likely that they ever will.
The Horrors close the show with the haunting crescendo of Moving Further Away where they exercise their talent for creating a scratchy, freeform jam – it works despite its distance from the more polished album version.
Everyone in this crowd has been waiting a long time to see The Horrors and they haven’t disappointed. Their focus, songwriting and creative endurance is indisputable. Much as they may shy from attention - it isn’t going anywhere soon.
Duncan Harrison
