The Horrors, Academy, Dublin

The last time The Horrors played Dublin, they terrified fans of Florence and the Machine, who had turned up early for her show at the O2.

Three months later, they’re the headliners rather than the support and their droning psychedelia receives a palpably warmer welcome. In part, that’s because The Horrors are a rare sight in Ireland. Florence aside, their last date was at a summer festival, where their scary retro-rock went over the heads of a boozy afternoon audience.

With sprayed on drain pipes, enormous leather jacket and an over-sized head, frontman Faris Badwan resembles an east London hipster as sketched by Edward Gorey. There’s something phantasmagorical about his singing voice, too, a gothic whine buried so deeply in the mix it is difficult to work out what he’s trying to say, beyond expressing existential ennui.