Thirteen Birds vs. The Record Desk

This record could easily be written off as an It Came from the Valley of Derivative Hipster Rock thing. The Horrors hit the scene as one of the gimmickiest NME “it” bands – all mock-shock camp horror goth garage pose without the tunes or the sound to prop up the image. Think lots of “Ooh, vintage!” organ and shouting. They kind of stunk.

So when someone suggested that I check out Primary Colours, I scoffed. When I was informed that the band had shelved the garage stunts and was doing a My Bloody Valentine meets Joy Division sort of thing. “Oh, great. More of that.” Commence eye rolling. Stylish retro brooding from the UK – whodathunk it?

Well, jokes on me because this is a neat little album. It’s not great. I couldn’t tell you what this record is about. You can throw a rock at any given song and hit something obviously nicked from the Jesus and Mary Chain, Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division, and My Bloody Valentine. However, as tight little collection of tracks, it’s both familiar and refreshing. Tracks like “Who Can Say” and “Primary Colours” are hung on catchy, minimalist hooks and dressed in high-style mope rock frippery. You’re not going to chuck your copy of Loveless based on this album, but it is nice to hear some of those fussed-over Kevin-Shields-type noises being employed in a pop context. Sure, “Scarlet Fields” is total shoegaze lite fluff, but that doesn’t prevent it from sounding good.

Worth checking out in a “key cut” sort of capacity is the final track “Sea Within a Sea.” The lyrics are mush like a lot of atmospheric mope rock lyrics. The main attraction is the song’s rather sprawling-feeling length (in reality only about eight minutes) and the driving motorik beat – both of which provide space for some guitars v. keys wrangling. There’s a nifty synth arpeggio bit and some reverbed “surfy” guitar. There’s a spare part, some ugly twisty mangled sounds, and then a gorgeous throbbing outro that eventually drifts away in a wash of electronic sound.

In short, not a mind-blowing, “change your life” sort of album. A modest, moody wisp of all the right sounds arranged smartly. Still, it’s not unsatisfying. It’s a bit like a great chunk of mopey candy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under My Bloody Valentine, The Horrors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.