The Horrors

• Hometown: Southend
• The Horrors Website

About

British ultra-hipsters not to be confused with the eponymous defunct Iowan garage-rock trio, the Horrors play a dark (as in goth-ish) garage punk, drop a zillion cool-band references in their music and song titles, and dress their postmodern parts expertly. The band's 2007 debut, Strange House, is an amalgamation of Joy Division, the Birthday Party, and ? and the Mysterians. They also cover a Suicide song. Needless to say, that covers a lot of underground -- er, ground -- and many acts would become lost in the haze of "style over substance." The Horrors get away with their almost too-perfect pedigree by delivering strong material that belies the massive amounts of hype behind them. Besides the album, the band has released a five-song EP, filmed a documentary of its U.S. tour and been banned by MTV UK thanks to the video for "Sheena Is a Parasite," directed by provocative video director Chris Cunningham.

- Mike McGuirk