Customer Reviews

Strange House

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Best album I've heard in years. Primal, noisy, spooky etc. When you hear terms like horror punk, garage, even goth, one might think "pfft we've certainly heard that before" but these guys do sound unique. They are a breath of fresh air. Loud, noisy, brash, Adams Family organs, early goth and punk, garage twangy reverb guitars, stick figure physiques. What more could one want in a band? The USA is so infantile in it's acts that even decent singers like Gwen Stephani, Nelly Fertado, and Fergie are reduced to child-like nursery rhyme vocals over repetitive beats. Our rock is reduced to whiny, bratty emo kids with the same whine/scream vocals, the same lyrics, the same production, the same haircuts. We are way too steeped in R&B and Hip Hop culture on the main stream front. Oh, and Nickelback (gag reflex kicks in) whom I categorize as "rock for people who don't like rock". Most British acts that the zines herald now are kind of poor Franz Ferdinand type clones or boring balladeers. The Horrors remind me of more pure times in music. Sifting through record shops in the East Village for word of mouth underground bands. They make a joyous noise. Bravo! Anyone else wanna chime in?

Wow, what an album! This is the kind of music that no matter how loud you turn up your speakers, you still want it louder. If you want a fun, eccentric record, this is it! And the CD pressing is all black (as in BOTH SIDES of the disc) . . . really cool (gives the impression of 45 vinyl). Buy this album. Your ears and head will thank you. Oh, and my favorite track: #7, "She is the New Thing" (awesome, awesome track--the sample here will not do it justice).

P.S.

There is a US band by the same name, so don't confuse these guys with them (although the US band isn't half bad, so you might want to check them out, too). This band is from the UK, and besides an EP, this is their debut album.

It's virtually impossible to listen to the Horrors' "Strange House" without ticking off their seeming influences: The Cramps, The Damned, The Fall, The Sonics, The B-52's, or any 60's garage band that favored a cheesy organ. But The Horrors are not just a pastiche of influences. Somehow, they sound startling fresh. Scary? Not hardly. Campy is more like it. But they make noisy, driving, exciting music, too. Retro goth garage at its finest. Play it loud and play it often.

Pretty good 80's tribute band, if you like the Birthday Party you'll probably like this. A lot of this reminds me of "Junkyard" to be precise.
The best songs on here are the amazing "Count In Fives" and "She's The New Thing", which sounds exactly like the Stranglers. "Gloves" steals the guitar riff from Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Nicotine Stain". You could play "Count The Influence" all day but ultimately The Horrors have still turned in a very entertaining record. For all the carping I've made about their influences this is still more solid than anything else currently out there.

...ok so it's been about a year since this was released...these supposed southern art students from Stratford trying to sound like a really stereotypical and mainstream disco goth band...

...the first time I heard count in fives...I was thinking "This beat sounds frightfully familiar"...then I realised it was just following the time signature...so I ignored the organ/keyboard...the singing was over the top and just pointlessly cliched I didn't know what to do (and the "hey" was a little bit much) but after a while...I found my body doing involuntary spasms to the music...was it some kind of puppet master?(dare I say seizure) no I felt the rhythm and the song was growing on me so I decided I will follow my macheovillain instinct and give the album a listen...

...one word...generic...every song has the exact same horror film like theme with nothing to compare it to besides the difference in tempo and perhaps the inversion of the chords...

...if you liked "Count in fives", "Gloves", "Sheila is a parasite" and "She is the new thing" and feel you could happily listen to that kind of music forever...then there's no need to be hesitant and you should buy this at once...if you however prefer more variety than just cliched disco goth...maybe the Horrors can have a haircut and you can give this a miss...

Playing for first time the "strange house" the debut cd of the Horrors you get the feeling "Alas,i can breath again !". Dark deeply gothic and extremely sadistic lyrics with a definitely intriguing music transfer you in another world like those you experience in the deepest dungeons of your rpg games. If you have seen the video clip of the single "Sheena is a parasite" directed by Chris Cunningham I am sure you noticed some kind of perfectionism which is obvious in the entire cd. The producers of the work Jim Sklavounos of the Bad Seeds,Allan Moulder (Depeche Mode) and Nick Zinner leave no doubts about the quality of the whole work.
I Strongly recommend this cd to those the like this kind of music. Personally I love anything that brings new fresh air ... !

Strange House is the perfect first album a group called The Horrors could put out. It shows off the group's different talents. Faris' lyrics paint a vivid picture in each song while Joshua's guitar work shows just how creative he can be with his sound with Rhys' infectious organ work gets in your head. Joe on drums pounds out wonderful beats with each song, complementing Tom on bass.

Overall, it's a fantastic freshman effort from a band with so much to offer.

Sounds like a cross between Iggy Pop, New York Dolls, Simple Minds of the 80's and an "edgier" Flock of Seagulls.

These guys are fantastic musicians with an eclectic and obvious dark side. Great album, unusual beats....a bit experimental. All the while...that classic post-punk/goth rock dark romaticismn permeates the sound...great music. Get into it. For fans of Bauhaus, Joy Division, Jesus And The Mary Chain, and Love And Rockets.

I wish I could convince this band to stick with this original sound they had before they took off the look and started mumbling more with less organ. Oh well; the new sound works better for some people. I just rock out more when this CD is playing.