I was going to end this review by mentioning that The Horrors were playing Irving Plaza (aka The Fillmore) tomorrow night but I just read that the show has been canceled. It is probably too late for anyone to make this show but the band is at Luna Lounge in Brooklyn tonight.

I have read a couple reviews of this CD and I haven't figured out why some reviewers like comparing this band to The Cramps. Aside for perhaps some visual similarities, the bands are nothing alike. To further this point, The Horrors' CD starts off with a cover of Screaming Lord Sutch's Jack the Ripper and the Cramps' sound is much more rockabilly (one of The Cramps' frequently played cover tunes was Ricky Nelson's Lonesome Town). A better point of comparison for The Horrors would be The Stranglers or The Mummies.

All-in-all, this is a fun CD. This is basically straight-forward garage punk that borrows liberally from the punk sounds of the last 30 years. Lead singer, Faris Badwan has a voice similar to Iggy Pop and musically, the band has a dark and claustrophobic sound mixing the sound of 80's bands like The Birthday Party with the garage rock sounds of the 60s.

Check out the MTV banned video for Sheena is a Parasite:


If you buy The Horror's new CD from Best Buy (currently on sale for $7.99), you will get a code which will allow you to download three exclusive tracks ("Gloves" (live), "Death at the Chapel" (live), and "Kicking Kay")

Links:
The Horror's MySpace page (link)