Horror My Friend may have taken a while in crafting this beast of a debut record but the wait is most certainly worth it; the Adelaide band has come out guitars thrashing, confident and ambitious – the trio has harnessed some well established post-punk/90’s rock influences in producing a record that isn’t scrappy. It’s aggressive and formidable.
The riffs hit hard, the guitars growl and the percussion drives relentlessly through the album, perfectly reflecting Horror My Friend’s penchant for whipping up frenetic, buzzing soundscapes, particularly live. A busy year of touring and writing has shone through in the way Stay In, Do Nothing has come together, with the album being made between Adelaide and Hothouse Audio in Melbourne with Jez Giddings and Soundpark with Richard Bowers.
What’s great about Horror My Friend is that they’ve not been scared off embracing the influences that are so clearly heard within their own music. “Stay In”, for instance, oozes 90’s Dinosaur Jr.-esque vibes, but there’s something refreshing within the melody that highlights the band’s urgent and very now approach to making music. Like single “Mazes”, “Stay In” is youthful and noisy and fun. The execution of lyrics are sharp, vocally, testament again to the amount of time spent on stages, honing that particular element of the live show.
“Life Blood” and “PB Remains” are album standouts; the latter being particularly demonstrative of Horror My Friend’s better melodic work. Enough space on the album is given for songs to breathe and to show that the band isn’t a one trick pony, they’ve developed noticeably as songwriters on this album too. There aren’t many moments on the record where the listener’s attention is allowed to wander, you’re very much focused on the sounds at hand.
In a rock scene where the Violent Sohos and the DZ Deathrays’ carved out a spot for this unashamed brash and energetic approach to music in gritty, sweaty fashion, there are bands who have fallen through the cracks giving the same style a shot. Horror My Friend are not one of those bands. They’re set to make that presence known even more with this album. Hats off.
Review Score: 8.0 out of 10.
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Stay In, Do Nothing is released through Poison City Records on Friday, January 22nd.
Horror My Friend are on tour from January through until April:
January 22nd | Clarity Records In-Store, ADELAIDE (AA)
February 10th | Rad Bar, WOLLONGONG
February 11th | Phoenix Bar, CANBERRA
February 12th | Blackwire, SYDNEY (AA)
February 13th | The Bearded Lady, BRISBANE
February 19th | Prince of Wales, BUNBURY
February 20th | Hyperfest, PERTH (AA)
February 21st | The Bird, PERTH
February 26th | The Old Bar, MELBOURNE
February 27th | Karova Bar, BALLARAT
April 1st | Jive, ADELAIDE
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