The Horrors: The Horrors EP
By
Evan Sawdey 28 November 2006PopMatters Interviews Editor
The Horrors formula is ridiculously simple: they’re simply a modern update of the weird “96 Tears” crooners ? & the Mysterians. A little bit of guitar, a lot of Hammond organ, and you’re set. The fun spirit of the original band remains, and the screeched chanting of the title words in the ‘50s-rock styled “Jack the Ripper” is just some strange guys having a ball in a studio. The riffing on the not-of-this-decade opener “Death at the Chapel” is furious, outrageous, but gloriously dated. Yet the highlight remains the paranoid, fantastic 100 second burst of insanity that’s known as “Sheena is a Parasite”. The fact that the Chris Cunningham-directed Samantha Morton-starring horror movie of a music video for it is top notch just happens to be icing on the cake. These guys have a definitive style, a huge sense of attitude, and enough artistic integrity to cull from for a while to come. They may not be your typical Next Big Thing in music, but they’re pretty damn close.
Evan Sawdey began contributing to PopMatters in late 2005 after contributing for years to his college newspaper
The Knox Student. Evan became the Associate Interviews Editor for PopMatters in the summer of 2008, and then the full Interviews Editor a year after that. Since joining, Evan's work has been quoted/featured in a wide array of publications including SLUG Magazine, The Metro (U.K.), the Gulf Times, Soundvenue Magazine (Denmark), and multiple national newspapers. Evan has been a guest on WNYC's Soundcheck (an NPR affiliate), was the Executive Producer for the
Good With Words: A Tribute to Benjamin Durdle album (available for free at
GoodWithWordsAlbum.com), and wrote the liner notes for the 2011 re-release of
Andre Cymone's hit 1985 album A.C. (Big Break Records) and the 2012 re-releases of
the JoBoxers' 1983 debut album Like Gangbusters,
'Til Tuesday's 1985 debut Voices Carry, and
Plastic Bertrand's 1978 album AN 1 (all Hot Shot Records). He is a current member of The Recording Academy and resides in Chicago, Illinois. You can follow him
@SawdEye should you be so inclined.
The Horrors - Sheena is a Parasite
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