Strange House

Content

The band announced the title via a MySpace bulletin on 11 January 2007. Several alternative titles for the album were considered, including Through Wax Seals and Padlocks, a line taken from their song "Gloves". The album subtitle, "Psychotic Sounds for Freaks and Weirdos", was created by two fans from the official Horrors forum. The band's lead singer, Faris Badwan, asked fans on the forum to suggest a name for their then yet-to-be-released album, before the title was finalised. The tag line "Psychotic Sounds for Freaks and Weirdos" was not only a subtitle to the album, but was used on all promotional material for Strange House.

The album consists mostly of previously released material, although several of these tracks were re-recorded or remixed.

Release

It was released on 5 March 2007 on Loog Records. It reached No. 37 in the UK Albums Chart.

A special edition including a DVD in a gatefold digipack was also released, which contained three music videos ("Sheena Is a Parasite", "Count in Fives" and "Gloves"), three live performances (one full-length and two short sets), an interview and a photo gallery.

Reception

A review in PopMatters said, "The Horrors bring a dose of dark glamour to an increasingly anodyne British alternative music scene... They blend their twin influences of early ‘80s gothic rockgoth]] and '60s garage to startling effect. No doubt some will fail to see past the cartoonish fancy dress of cobweb strewn Edwardian undertakers, and write them off as a joke or novelty act. This would be a shame as there are half a dozen brilliant tunes on offer here".

Track listing

1. "Jack the Ripper" – 3:00 (Screaming Lord Sutch cover)
2. "Count in Fives" – 3:13
3. "Draw Japan" – 3:23
4. "Gloves" – 3:46
5. "Excellent Choice" – 2:53
6. On the US edition, "Excellent Choice" is replaced by "Horrors Theme"
7. "Little Victories" – 2:40
8. "She Is the New Thing" – 3:21
9. "Sheena Is a Parasite" – 1:42
10. "Thunderclaps" – 3:06
11. "Gil Sleeping" – 4:51
12. "A Train Roars" – 3:54
13. On UK editions of the album, there are three minutes of silence in the pregap preceding "Death at the Chapel"
14. "Death at the Chapel" (UK bonus track) – 2:19

1. Videos
2. "Sheena Is a Parasite"
3. "Count in Fives"
4. "Gloves"
5. Live in London, 21 September 2006 (Underage Club at Coronet Theatre)
6. "Jack the Ripper"
7. "Count in Fives"
8. "Horrors Theme"
9. "Death at the Chapel"
10. "Gloves"
11. "Sheena Is a Parasite"
12. "A Knife in the Eye"
13. "Count in Fives" (Reprise)
14. Live in New York, 2 November 2006 (The Annex)
15. "Horrors Theme"
16. "Crawdaddy Simone"
17. Live in Tokyo, 20 December 2006 (The Astrohall)
18. "Count in Fives"
19. Bonus video material
20. Interview
21. Photo Gallery
22. Hidden Footage: Live from the Casa de Ultragrrrl
23. Untitled