The Horrors

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Background information
Origin	Southend, England
Genre(s)	Garage punk Psychobilly Indie rock
Years active	2005-present
Label(s)	Loog
Website	official website
Members
Faris Rotter Joshua Von Grimm Tomethy Furse Spider Webb Coffin' Joe

The Horrors are a five-piece band who formed around the Junk Club night (known as Junk) in the basement of the Southend, Essex Royal Hotel. The band's sound relies strongly on the distinctive guitar work of Joshua Von Grimm, Badwan's vocals and the inclusion of an organist, Junk Club co-founder Rhys 'Spider' Webb. Formed in the summer of 2005, the band rehearsed for only two weeks before playing their first gig.^{[citation needed]} A combination of their distinctive image and sound earned them instant publicity and they have been on the rise ever since. They were soon featured in the cutting edge media such as Vice, Disorder and Artrocker. They were first mentioned in the NME in October 2005.

The band has won some serious musical acclaim from the likes of Nick Zinner, Bobby Gillespie and Jim Sclavunos^{[citation needed]}

1 Sheena Is A Parasite
2 NME Tours
3 Band Members
4 Trivia
5 Discography
6 Notes
7 External links

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Band Members

Faris Rotter (Faris Badwan) - Vocals
Joshua Von Grimm (Joshua Hayward) - Fender Jaguar Guitar
Tomethy Furse (Tom Cowan) - Danelectro Longhorn Bass
Spider Webb (Rhys Webb) - Vox Continental
Coffin Joe (Johnathan Spurgeon ^[1]) - Drums

Temporary Band Members

Freddie Cowan - Guitar (Briefly replaced Joshua when he was taking his exams.)

[edit] Trivia

Guitarist Joshua Von Grimm has a BSc in Physics from University College London. The distinctive Horrors guitar sound is created by guitar pedals which Josh builds himself.
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 Von Grimm, 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 Von Grimm, "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.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Strange House
(05 March 2007)
UK #37 Loog

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

Sheena Is A Parasite / Jack The Ripper - 10 April 2006 1000 copies only
Death At The Chapel / Crawdaddy Simone - 31 July 2006 2000 copies only
Count In Fives / Who Says? or A Knife In The Eye - 30 October 2006
Gloves / Horrors' Theme or Kicking Kay or Death At The Chapel Live - 26 February 2007 #34 UK