The Horrors

The Horrors

The Horrors are a five-piece garage punk band who formed in the summer of 2005. They released their debut album Strange House on March 5 of 2007. Strange House reached #37 on the UK charts.

Sheena Is A Parasite

It was with this single that The Horrors first gained noticable popularity in the UK. The music video was directed by Chris Cunningham. This ended a seven year music video hiatus for the much respected Cunningham who admitted to being "mildly obsessed" with the track, having come across it on Myspace. The video stars Oscar nominee Samantha Morton as the song's manic, transmogrifying subject who whips around like a banshee and spews her intestines at the viewer. Sharply edited and shot on a low budget, the video was instantly banned from MTV UK purely on the basis of the use of strobe lights, not because of the gory subject matter (as was erroneously reported by the NME). Chris Cunningham did not want to edit out the strobing as he felt it would compromise his work, which incidentally is how The Horrors feel about their music.The video has aired on MTV2 in America.

NME tours

In the 28 October, 2006 issue of NME the lead story detailed a supposed feud between the Horrors and The Fratellis on the NME Rock 'n' Roll Riot Tour. Among other incidents, in response to allegedly being snubbed by the Fratellis, The Horrors - notably Faris - damaged Mince Fratelli's drum kit on two separate occasions and put black paint on their hands prior to shaking hands with Jon and Mince of The Fratellis. Similarly, two weeks previously, The Automatic voiced their dislike of The Horrors in the lead article of the same publication, claiming "they've just got big hair" . They recently toured on the NME Awards Indie Rock Tour alongside The Automatic, The View and Mumm-Ra following their own headline tour of December 2006.

Band members

• Faris Rotter (Faris Badwan) - Vocals (born in 1986)
• Joshua Third (Joshua Hayward) - Fender Jaguar Guitar (born in 1984)
• Tomethy Furse (Tom Cowan) - Danelectro Longhorn Bass, Fender Mustang Bass
• Spider Webb (Rhys Webb) - Vox Continental (24 years old)
• Coffin Joe (Joseph Spurgeon) - Drums (21 years old)

Temporary band members

• Freddie Cowan (Tom's brother)- Guitar (Replaced Joshua for several small gigs when he was taking his exams.)

Trivia

• Guitarist Joshua Third has a BSc in Physics from University College London. The distinctive Horrors guitar sound is created by guitar pedals which Josh builds himself. Some say he is the most 'attractive' member of the Horrors.
• Singer Faris Rotter and Bassist Tomethy Furse both attended the exclusive public school Rugby School.
• The Horrors themselves compiled a "Fan Zine" for people attending the NME Rock and Roll Riot Tour. It features an A-Z of bands chosen by organist Spider Webb, A "how to disort your effects pedal" by Joshua Third, How to make your own skinny jeans/cigarette pants by Coffin Joe, a guide to the bands and songs featured on the CD that comes free with the magazine by Tomethy Furse and illustrations by Faris. The magazine is entitled "Horror Asparagus Stories" (after one of the tracks by The Driving Stupid on the free CD.)
• For the NME Indie Rock Tour, The Horrors compiled another "Fanzine" for people who attended. This "Fanzine" featured a CD titled "Spider Webb's Sounds from Outer Space", "how to build your own guitar pedal" by Joshua Third, "Coffin Joe's Beat Step Part 1" and Tomethy Furse's Guide to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The illustrations were again by Faris.
• On the track "Sister Leonella", friends and family of The Horrors provide backing vocals.

Discography

Albums

• 
  Strange House
  (05 March, 2007)
  UK #37 Loog
  

EPs

The band released a US only EP in October 2006 which was their first release on CD. It contained five songs and the video to 'Sheena.' The EP has since became available in the UK and Australia in selected stores.

Singles

All of singles released by The Horrors prior to "Gloves" have been chart ineligible because they have been packaged with inserts and stickers, breaking chart rules.

Date of Release	Title	B-side(s)	Label	UK Chart Peak	Album
April 10, 2006	Sheena Is A Parasite	Jack The Ripper	Loog	N/A	Strange House
July 31, 2006	Death At The Chapel	Crawdaddy Simone	Loog	N/A	Strange House
October 30, 2006	Count In Fives	Who Says A Knife In Their Eye	Loog	N/A	Strange House
February 26, 2007	Gloves	Kicking K Horrors Theme Death At The Chapel (Live)	Loog	#34	Strange House
Unknown	She Is The New Thing	Sister Leonella She Is The New Thing (Remix) Excellent Choice (re-recorded)	Loog	N/A	Strange House

External links

• The Horrors official website
• Loog Records, website of The Horrors label
• The official Horrors Myspace page
• Strange House review on Subculture Magazine
• The Horum - The Horrors Forum
• Meet The Horrors in an interview with NME.