In the wake of the 21st century post-punk revival, it was inevitable that a band like The Horror The Horror would come to fruition, one that takes the genre’s most popular elements and throws them into a musical bubble and squeak. What Wired Boy Child suffers from most is a paucity of fresh ideas. On the Swedish band’ second record, it’s a coalescence of ideas plundered from post-punk and new wave acts, cobbled together to create a revivalist pastiche. Aside from the occasional creative spark, Wired Boy Child is largely reactionary, rather than instinctive.
Take “Miss You’ for instance, the song The Strokes never wrote. Vocalist Joel Lindstrom even implements the same grainy distortion on his voice that became Julian Casablancas’ trademark, while underneath a bass line straight out of Room on Fire stutters along. Aside from the obvious mimicry, The Horror The Horror lack the fervour to pull off their desired sound with any conviction. If they had a more acute sense of self-awareness, they could almost be Sweden’ answer to Sydney’ indie-pop darlings, Sparkadia. But whereas “The Spark†is comfortable in their own skin, The Horror The Horror is striving for something they’ll never achieve. Lindstrom seems aware of his own shortcomings on “Coming Home’ when he repines, “I don’ what I’ve been doing… I’ve been trying, I should try harder.â€
It’s only once the band put away the sharp, stabbing chords and plodding bass that The Horror The Horror manage to conjure up some interesting sounds. The brooding melancholia of “Some Napalm Burning’ is anchored by Patric Thorngren’ Seventies-inspired bass line which plays nicely off the melodies woven by Mattias Axelsson and Johan Jansson’ intertwined guitars. “Kamalen’, which rears its head towards the tail-end of the record, is an extremely accomplished instrumental, combining traces of Krautrock and pop to create what’s unequivocally the album’ shining moment. It’s part Cure, part Kraftwark and is a beacon that, amongst the Joy Division guitars and aping Strokes moments, The Horror The Horror may just have something exciting to offer us. That is, once they stop trying to be someone else.
Dom Alessio
