[3.5/5] Just listening to their CD can't do the Horrors justice. For the London quintet, it's far more about their dark, gothic visual aesthetic and I-don't-give-a-fuck persona than it is about the music, which owes considerable debt to bands like the Damned, Misfits and the Cramps. The cacophonous songs on their debut are terse, under-produced and not exactly something you'd put on heavy rotation on your iPod. But what the Horrors do, they do well, ravaging your eardrums with heavily distorted punk guitars, shot-fire drums and spooky, horror film soundtrack organs as singer Faris "Rotter" Badwan screeches nearly intelligible lyrics about Jack the Ripper and girls who are parasites. There's a sense of wide-eyed insanity to it all, like perhaps these big-haired, black-clad lads really did just crawl out of coffins before recording, and it's exactly that creepy feeling that makes the record-and the band-so compelling. (STOLEN TRANSMISSION) Emily Zemler
 Official Website: http://www.stolentransmission.com
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