Live Concert Photography: The Horrors with Weeping Icon at Rough Trade 9/19/17

Live Concert Photography: The Horrors with Weeping Icon at Rough Trade 9/19/17

Throughout the bulk of this site’s history, I’ve written quite about London, UK-based indie rock quintet and JOVM mainstays The Horrors. And as you may recall, the British blogosphere darlings, comprised of Faris Badwan (vocals), Joshua Hayward (guitar), Tom Cowan (aka Tom Furse) (keys and synths), Rhys Webb (bass) and Joe Spurgeon (drums, percussion), can trace their origins back to the early 00s — with the founding trio of Badwan Cowan and Webb meeting during repeated trips back and forth between their hometown of Southend-on-Sea and London, during which they recognized that they all shared an interest in obscure vinyl collecting, DJ’ing, and a mutual love of 60s garage rock, and 70s and 80s New Wave and post-punk — in particular, The Birthday Party and Bauhaus.

By 2005, the band’s founding trio recruited Haywood and Spurgeon to complete the band’s lineup and reportedly their first rehearsal together featured two covers — The Sonics’ “The Witch” and Screaming Lord Sutch’s “Jack the Ripper,” interpreted in the tradition of previous garage rock covers such as those by The Fuzztones, The Gruesomes and others. And unsurprisingly, their 2007 debut, Strange House featured their garage rock take on “Jack the Ripper” as its opening track; however, it was the album’s first two official singles “Sheena Is a Parasite” and “Death at the Chapel” that caught the attention of music journalists, music critics and fans. Since then, each of the band’s albums — their aforementioned 2007 debut, 2009’s Primary Colours, 2011’s Skying and 2014’s Luminous — have garnered both critical praise and commercial success, as they have all charted within the UK Top 40. Along with that, Skying and Luminous received international attention, including attention from this site.

V, The Horrors’ aptly titled fifth studio album was released earlier this year through Wolftone Records/Caroline Records and while being the band’s first batch of material in three years, the Paul Epworth-produced album finds the band experimenting and expanding with the sound that’s won them national and international attention over the past two albums. And as you may recall, the album’s first official single “Machine” found the British band incorporating elements of Manchester sound, Nine Inch Nails and Earthling-era David Bowie while retaining the band’s rousing and anthemic hooks; but by far, the song may be among the most swaggering and assertive songs of their growing catalog. “Something to Remember Me By,” V’s second single found the band at their most dance floor friendly, as it featured a sinuous bass line paired with gently arpeggiated synths, four-on-the-floor drumming and a soaring hook that has the band seemingly nodding at New Order. “Weighed Down,” V’s third and latest single found the band nodding at dub and dubstep as it featured a undulating, tweeter and woofer rocking beat, squalling and squelching feedback, soaring keys, cosmic ray bursts, hazily lysergic bridge and a ethereal coda that to me seems like a synthesis of Skying and Luminous while also nodding at Interpol‘s Antics.

Now, as you may recall, The Horrors played a handful of Stateside dates to celebrate the release of V, and it included two NYC area dates — September 18 and September 19 at Rough Trade. I caught the band headline the second night of their run in town and opening the night was the Brooklyn-based experimental rock/noise punk act Weeping Icon. Check out some photos from the show below.

Brooklyn-based experimental rock/punk act quartet Weeping Icon features former and current members of bands like Warcries, ADAVETA, MantisMass, 7TomHand and Lutkie. The up-and-coming act specializes in an angular, psych rock, New Wave and No Wave-inspired take on noise rock.