''Strange House'' is the debut studio album by English rock band

the Horrors The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spurg ...

, released on 5 March 2007 by

Loog Records Loog Records is a UK-based record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as an imprint of Polydor Records. The label was launched in 2003 and managed by former NME editor James Oldham. It is named after former Rolling Stones manag ...

Content

The band announced the title via a MySpace bulletin on 11 January 2007. The album subtitle, "Psychotic Sounds for Freaks and Weirdos", was created by a fan from the official Horrors forum. The album consists mostly of previously released material, although several of these tracks were re-recorded or remixed.

Release

''Strange House'' was released on 5 March 2007 by

. It reached No. 37 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. A special edition including a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in a gatefold digipak was also released, which contained three music videos ("

Sheena Is a Parasite "Sheena Is a Parasite" is the debut single by English rock band the Horrors, released in April 2006 by Loog Records. Content The title and content were adapted from the Ramones single "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" as well as the Cramps' "Sheena's ...

", "

Count in Fives "Count in Fives" is a song by English rock band the Horrors, released in October 2006 by Loog Records as a single from their debut album, '' Strange House''. Content The song is about vocalist Faris Badwan's childhood obsession with arranging t ...

" and "Gloves"), three live performances (one full-length and two short sets), an interview and a photo gallery.

Reception

A review in ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' said, "The Horrors bring a dose of dark glamour to an increasingly anodyne British alternative music scene... They blend their twin influences of early '80s

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

and '60s

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

to startling effect. No doubt some will fail to see past the cartoonish fancy dress of cobweb strewn Edwardian undertakers, and write them off as a joke or novelty act. This would be a shame as there are half a dozen brilliant tunes on offer here".

Track listing

# "

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

" – 3:00 (

Screaming Lord Sutch Screaming Lord Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), who had his name legally changed from David Edward Sutch, was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party an ...

cover) # "

" – 3:13 # "Draw Japan" – 3:23 # "Gloves" – 3:46 # "Excellent Choice" – 2:53 #*On the US edition, "Excellent Choice" is replaced by "Horrors Theme" # "Little Victories" – 2:40 # "She Is the New Thing" – 3:21 # "

" – 1:42 # "Thunderclaps" – 3:06 # "Gil Sleeping" – 4:51 # "A Train Roars" – 3:54 #* On UK editions of the album, there are three minutes of silence in the pregap preceding "Death at the Chapel" # "Death at the Chapel" (UK bonus track) – 2:19 ; Special Edition bonus DVD # Videos #* "Sheena Is a Parasite" #* "Count in Fives" #* "Gloves" # Live in London, 21 September 2006 (Underage Club at Coronet Theatre) #* "Jack the Ripper" #* "Count in Fives" #* "Horrors Theme" #* "Death at the Chapel" #* "Gloves" #* "Sheena Is a Parasite" #* "A Knife in the Eye" #* "Count in Fives" (Reprise) # Live in New York, 2 November 2006 (The Annex) #* "Horrors Theme" #* "Crawdaddy Simone" # Live in Tokyo, 20 December 2006 (The Astrohall) #* "Count in Fives" # Bonus video material #* Interview #* Photo Gallery # Hidden Footage: Live from the Casa de Ultragrrrl #* Untitled

References

External links

* {{Authority control The Horrors albums 2007 debut albums Albums produced by Ben Hillier Albums produced by Alan Moulder