Primary Coloured Goth Rock?

Number 12

'Primary Colours' by The Horrors

Trotter’s Top Ten position : 1 in 2009

UK Chart high : 25 in 2009

I don't suppose The Horrors often get compared to Coldplay but that's exactly what's going to happen here.  Like I said with Chris and the boys back at Number 20, there's nothing better than getting a second album and being shocked by the creative leap that's occured between the debut and this one.  'Primary Colours' took me completely by surprise - that's not to say I wasn't expecting a decent album, having lapped up single 'Who Can Say', but I just wasn't expecting this type of album.  To be honest The Horrors were in danger of becoming a bit of a joke band - goth throwbacks with made-up stage names getting tied into the bizarre 'tweenie-gig' phase of the mid-Noughties where gig doors would be thrown open to Sunny Delight drinking Tarquins and Jocastas while their parents popped to Waitrose in their 4x4's before picking them up and going to Granny's for Sunday lunch.  So, to come back with an album that contains the aforementioned single - all whirlitzer organ, Motown vibes and spoken-word section declaring how 'you're too good for me so I'm walking away' in cold sentiment - and the frankly stunning eight minute electronic epic 'Sea Within a Sea' was probably the surprise of the year.  Cheekily tagging on the track 'Whole New Way' a few months later following building critical acclaim can be forgiven purely for the accompanying video which showcased their 'us against the world/band of brothers' vibe that any group worth its salt should have in spades.  I'm not sure how much of this inventive u-turn was down to producers Geoff 'Portishead' Barrow and Chris 'scary music video director' Cunningham but it certainly did no harm whatsoever.  Whether they are to your taste or not, there's certainly no denying after this that The Horrors aren't taking things seriously.  This record opens up a massive variety of creative possibilities for this band in a way that we haven't really seen since Radiohead thrust 'Kid A' upon us at the start of the last decade.  It wouldn't surprise me if we were talking about The Horrors in exactly the same way ten years from now.

Look at Who Can Say ; Whole New Way ; Sea Within a Sea
Listen to a sampling of the Top Fifty on Spotify as we go or the 'one from each album' version