Hot on the heels of Urthboy’s show-stopping album Spitshine, Sydney’s primo independent record label Elefant Traks has graced us with another brilliant release, this time from relative newcomers Horrorshow. Inside Story, the duo’s second album, is a truly break-out accomplishment. As a complete experience it flows along with an effortless style, each track complementing the next, making the hour-long album rush by almost too quickly. Uplifting and bouncy, yet introspective and analytical, Horrorshow’s positive tone is owed to the skilled vocals of Solo and ace production skills of Adit – both of whom are only in their early twenties. Being the most recent signees to Elefant Traks, you have to commend these guys for talent above their years and eagerly wonder where they’re headed next, but from the lyrical content of the album you can tell they are surely in it for the journey and the love of the art.

The Show does well at describing this process: “We had to do it all at our own pace/Lessons learnt/Bridges burnt/And forks in the road faced/And I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t times that I was flying blind/Line by line tryna shine this little light of mine”. Reading the album’s attached digital booklet brings a smile to the face, because the characteristics that make Inside Story great are the same that are synonymous with the Elefant Traks ethos (insofar as I can define  it): the one-two punch of skilled production & beats that get your head bobbing, coupled with meaningful, intelligent and insightful vocals that makes it enjoyable on multiple levels.

The first single release Thoughtcrime pokes fun at the vacuousness of pop music, while the title track Inside Story takes a deeper look into our technologically advanced society to reveal it’s social regression, one of the darker forays on the album which certainly hits home if you too have noticed the side-effects of the momentum of progress. The Rain then picks up some of these feelings and turns them positive in an upbeat fashion: “So play this song on the days when the rain keeps on/ And you wait an you pray it’ll stop/ And if you stuck in a storm/ then spare a second for the thought/ That we all at the mercy of the gods.” Following on, In My Haze features an appearance by Jane Tyrell, whose silky smooth vocals you can find as a part of The Herd. Her contribution to the album is undeniably good; the duet-styled song hits just at the right time.

Horrorshow is currently touring with Urthboy on his Australia wide Spitshine Tour…if you, like me, want to see these guys overseas one day, drop them a line on Facebook or Twitter and let them know. You can grab Inside Story from iTunes or wherever good music is sold.

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Visit http://www.elefanttraks.com for more info.

via Leon Fitzpatrick, 4 November 2009 12:02pm | |