The Horrors: 'Who Can Say'

With names like Rotter, Coffin Joe and Spider Webb, an obsession with all things gothic, and an un-rock'n'roll boarding school upbringing, no amount of press hype surrounding The Horrors' 2007 debut could cut through expectations that they were probably a bunch of pretentious berks. So much so, that two years on, most people's knowledge of the band only extends to frontman Faris "Rotter" Badwan's on-off romantic entanglement with Peaches Geldof.

However, anyone expecting the uber-trendy five-piece to slink off into a dank corner of obscurity in Shoreditch had better think again. After rooting a little deeper in their daddies' '60s record collections, the band have returned with a shimmying, brighter sound, which retains just enough of their old sinister guitar slashes to prevent the change from seeming cynical. Badwan's bleak vocals about failed romance are played out over haunting fairground organs, Ronettes-esque drums and a fuzzy scuzz of Jesus & The Mary Chain-style effects that will have Glasvegas seething with jealousy. It might pain certain people to say it, but The Horrors are actually starting to sound pretty amazing.