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The Horror

Insobriety & Insubordination (2004)
Signal Path

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Adam
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on June 22nd 2004

The Horror may be from the hotbed of Gainesville, Florida but you wouldn't know it from their sound. If anything the band's charging, street influenced, shout-along punk rock sounds more like the style you hear coming out of NYC or Boston. This means that despite the fact that The Horror are quite good at what they do, they're on well tread ground and face an uphill battle to really distinguish themselves from so many similar groups.

There's no shortage of passion on Insobriety & Insubordination and it propels the album forward. The opening track "Rise to the Depths" features some neat interplay between the John Grimaldi and the backing vocalists. It's fast, fun punk rock that sets the unrelenting pace for the entire record. The band calls to mind early Dropkick Murphys at times, particularly in "Voice of (T)reason," with it's almost sea chantey-like chorus. The gang vocals aren’t too far off from those on The Forgotten's more recent records, if only a bit less gruff.

One thing The Horror definitely have going for them is their lyrics. While they're not hitting on any unexpected themes (there's songs about alcoholism, class conflict, the punk scene and other common topics), their writing is quite proficient. Despite the sing-along features of the music the quality of the writing never really suffers. Particularly interesting is the aforementioned "Voice of (T)reason," which deconstructs and questions the definition of patriotism. It takes a more inquisitive perspective than most anti-war songs, something we have no shortage of in recent times.

The Horror keep things moving over the course of 8 songs, with things only lagging a bit towards the end of the record. However the band uses their 21 minutes wisely and has assembled a respectable collection of crowd-pleasing tunes. This is a decent debut, but nothing particularly new. The Horror is going to have to do a lot more to stand out from the crowd if they want to move forward from here.

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Anonymous (June 27, 2004)

Rockabilly was good but I think they're psychobilly, and psychobilly annoys me.

-BSD

yellowtrash (June 26, 2004)

Yeah. The Horrors are better. They were straight up dirty rockabilly. No one seems to remember them here at all though, even though they did a European tour.

Anonymous (June 24, 2004)

I really am willing to bet they're not.

-BSD

Anonymous (June 24, 2004)

The Horrors from Iowa are probably better.

Anonymous (June 24, 2004)

More like annoyingness like the Boredoms except less cute.

-BSD

Jesse (June 24, 2004)

The Horror, The Horror! would be beyond dance-punk. Well, the Conrad version, anyway. They'd be dane-punk to the MAX. We're talking fullout pretentiousness.

Anonymous (June 24, 2004)

Or a mid-90's ska band where no one in it was black.

-BSD

FortyMinutesWest (June 23, 2004)

Something tells me that if a band was called The Horror, The Horror! they'd probably be dance punk.

Anonymous (June 23, 2004)

They definitely got it from the movie. They are probably idiots and I'd take them in a fight.

-BSD

Jesse (June 23, 2004)

It was in reply to Forty's comment.

Anonymous (June 23, 2004)

They're street punks. They haven't read any Conrad.

-BSD

Jesse (June 23, 2004)

I don't think anyone got the Heart of Darkness (or were you referencing Apocalypse Now!?) reference. It was the first thing I thought of when I read the band name.

dazed (June 22, 2004)

It's nice to see this reviewed here. Great local band, and amazing live.

Anonymous (June 22, 2004)

Great album. May not be pussy enough for some of the people who frequent this site.

Steve Dwyer

TahoeJeff (June 22, 2004)

I like the whore

FortyMinutesWest (June 22, 2004)

Their name should be The Horror, The Horror!

Anonymous (June 22, 2004)

I had the pleasure of seeing the Horror recently. Their live show is fantastic, as they bring all of the energy from their record, multiply it by ten, then spit it right back at the audience. A lot of energy, and a ton of passion. Not to mention excellent songwriting that goes beyond virtually all of punk rock today. A great effort, buy it today.

Anonymous (June 22, 2004)

theres a better ' the horror' in the uk

TahoeJeff (June 22, 2004)

I remember seeing the horror in Pensacola last year, they were pretty good. What was funny was how one of the members grandparents were there, and the grandpa who was over 70 at least was wearing a horror T-shirt