Horror The Horror - Wilderness
by Benjamin Howarth
published: 3 / 8 / 2011

Label:
Tapete Records
Format: CD
intro
Flawed third album from Swedish band the Horror The Horror which finds them moving into indie dance territory with mixed results
‘Wilderness’ is the third album from Sweden’s the Horror The Horror, and finds them adding eighties pop-stylings where once there was an unmistakable Strokes influence. These are songs that aim unashamedly for the modern indie dance floor – jaunty indiepop guitar with vocals that could have come straight from Razorlight, melancholic verses bursting into sing-along choruses. 'Believe in Magic' sums up the album perfectly – the lyrics seem to be yearning for something, but it’s never made too specific just what. The almost generic indie arrangement is spiced up by polite nods to 80s stadium rock, and there is a guitar breakdown that could have been lifted straight from Prefab Sprout’s 'Steve McQueen'. The bright and breezy tone is the album’s strength. Instead of drowning the songs in power chords, they leave plenty of room for the dextrous instrumental work to shine through. That means that 'The Forest' – a fairly conventional tune – swings between funk and disco, before a guitar solo and an Arcade Fire-styled breakdown. Time and again, there are guitar lines that never quite do what you expect to do, and it’s nice to hear drums that don’t pound away in the background, but are often used to take a song in a new direction. It’s a shame, then, that so many good ideas are put to use on what is often generic material. There’s nothing awful here, but nor are there songs you’ll be desperate to hear over and over. You wish that the Horror The Horror had thrown off any lingering ambitions for their albums to be filed next to trendy indie bands, and instead embraced pop wholeheartedly.
Track Listing:-
1 Wilderness2 Honestly
3 Vanity
4 Believe In Magic
5 The Forest
6 Move It!
7 Submission
8 Feel It Burning Inside
9 Imbecile
10 Out Of Here
Label Links:-
http://www.tapeterecords.de/https://www.facebook.com/tapeterecords
https://twitter.com/tapete
https://www.youtube.com/user/tapeterecords/videos
bandcamp
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Liz Mitchell - Interview
Lauren Mayberry - Photoscapes
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
Garfunkel and Garfunkel Jr. - Interview
Maarten Schiethart - Vinyl Stories
Clive Langer - Interview
Sukie Smith - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Davey Woodward - Mumbo in the JumboNigel Stonier - Wolf Notes
Wings - Venus and Mars
Kate Daisy Grant and Nick Pynn - Songs For The Trees
Only Child - Holy Ghosts
Neil Campbell - The Turnaround
Philip Jeays - Victoria
Darkness - Dreams On Toast
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
Charles Ellsworth - Cosmic Cannon Fodder
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart