In his new book, Retromania, the critic Simon Reynolds revisits his damning mid-80s coinage "record collection rock". Inspired by the relentless forward march of post-punk, the young Reynolds was sceptical of bands such as Primal Scream or Spacemen 3, who waved their influences like a flag: "music," as he once defined it, "where the listener's knowledge of prior rock music is integral to the full aesthetic appreciation of the record." It's a nice concept, but one that's in the eye of the beholder. If a band have a broad enough spectrum of influences and adapt or combine them in clever, compelling ways, then an audience not necessarily versed in those influences will take them at face value. In the worst cases, a candidly celebrated record collection feels like a cage; in the best it's a door.
When the Horrors emerged, in a cloud of dry ice, from Southend six years ago, it was difficult to tell which way they were heading. Looking like gravediggers and sounding like cratediggers, they were passionately devoted to Joe Meek, the Birthday Party, the Cramps and outré garage rock (they covered the Sonics and Screaming Lord Sutch), and they didn't mind who knew it. With costumes, pseudonyms and artwork to match the music, their 2007 debut album Strange House felt so conceptually neat that it might have been an airlock. Add to that the mixed blessing of music-press hype and you had a young band with everything to prove.
When the Horrors emerged, in a cloud of dry ice, from Southend six years ago, it was difficult to tell which way they were heading. Looking like gravediggers and sounding like cratediggers, they were passionately devoted to Joe Meek, the Birthday Party, the Cramps and outré garage rock (they covered the Sonics and Screaming Lord Sutch), and they didn't mind who knew it. With costumes, pseudonyms and artwork to match the music, their 2007 debut album Strange House felt so conceptually neat that it might have been an airlock. Add to that the mixed blessing of music-press hype and you had a young band with everything to prove.
