The Horrors (and Ra Ra Riot) @ Studio B, 11/3: Oh the Horror

I know Matt talked about this night already (and I was supposed to recap The Horrors ages ago) but I thought I would mention again how much we really loved Ra Ra Riot. When we first saw them, the reaction from the blogger mafia was, "Are these people in the band?" They really don't look like your typical indie group. They sort of look like they are from the north shore of LI/Northern Jersey/Orange County. Apparently they are from Syracuse though and unfortunately, I have no frame of reference for that place. And now I have lost track of why I am writing this... anyway, me likey. Go check them out. They were in close competition with O'death for band of the month on Deli Magazine and in the end, won out.

Okay, onto The Horrors. Never in my opinion, has a band been so appropriately named.

The Horrors are made up of quiet, dismal, goth teenagers from Essex (a place one would normally not associate with goth and dismal but rather blond and bimboish- sorry Essex). Their one goal seems to be: commit as many acts of destruction on stage as possible. At Studio B, one of them decided that pulling down the metal curtain separating the stage from the lounge area seemed like a good idea. The management thought otherwise and promptly disbatched two bouncers on stage, one of whom seconds later had to stop the lead singer from bashing someone in the head with his mike stand and then spent the remainder of the concert standing watch at the curtain. I was not amused, actually, I was rather pissed. I go to a lot of shows, deal with a lot of bouncers and guards and know that they deserve more respect than some punk 19 year old taunting them on stage.

Unlike Matt, who couldn't garner the will to stay for the remainder of their set after the curtain fall, I stayed. I stood at the side of the stage for a while and then sat down and read a magazine. The Horrors aren't new or interesting. They haven't yet discovered their place in the musical world. They could be the darker Darkness or a metal version of the moody, intelligent Editors but their music really isn't there yet. It needs some focus, the songs need distinction, they need to realise that screaming along to a base line does not a song make and as a group, I think they may need a nanny.