The Horrors

The Horrors

The Horrors are a British group from Southend-on-Sea, United Kingdom, active from 2005. They are associated with garage rock, indie rock, electronic, garage punk, garage rock revival, gothic rock, horror punk and post-punk, and are also described as a psychedelic and garage rock band from Essex.

Line-up

The group’s members include Spider Webb, Faris Badwan, Coffin Joe, Jordan Cook, Tom Cowan, Tom Furse, Joshua Third and Amelia Kidd. Earlier line-ups include Faris Badwan on vocals, Joshua Hayward on guitar, Tom Cowan on keyboards, Rhys Webb on bass and Joseph Spurgeon on drums.

Releases and style

The Horrors release music on Horrors. Their debut album is Strange House (2007), which is mainly a garage rock record with horror punk elements and includes several earlier singles. The follow-up, Primary Colours (2009), moves away from garage rock towards shoegaze and post-punk and receives critical acclaim. It is shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and named NME’s best album of 2009. The band later releases Skying (2011) and Luminous (2014).

Live work and recognition

The band supports the debut album with festival appearances in 2007, including Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds, Scandinavian festivals, Summer Sonic in Japan and Splendour in the Grass in Australia. They also support the Arctic Monkeys. For Primary Colours, they play at Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury, Hurricane Festival, T in the Park and the Underage Festival, and they open for The Kills, Nine Inch Nails and Placebo while also touring across America and Europe. They return for further major festival slots around the release of Skying.