England's The Horrors could have so easily fallen into the abysmal cookie-cutter, post-punk revival band camp. However, the band's incredible album-to-album progression from garage-punk to shoegaze to dream pop (all with the post-punk foundation) feels so damn natural that it's difficult to dismiss them on the grounds of imitation - something listeners may be a bit too quick to label a crime these days.By Basement DJ: The Doctor
Skying, the band's third album, maintains an elevated focus on atmospherics with heavily layered textures of synth, bass, and vocals with the occasional guitar riff cutting through it all. The album still contains great hooks; tracks such as the lead single "Still Life" would suggest as much. While Skying doesn't quite match the brilliance of 2009's kraut-fueled Primary Colours, the album certainly highlights The Horrors' capacity for musical expansion and forward-thinking creativity. At the very least, Skying is a faithful, modern interpretation of a genre that may have been overlooked by those of us born after 1985.