Live music review: The Horrors - Icy genius in a thrillingly intimate setting

The Horrors live at  Tivoli, Dublin - 5/5

The Horrors are the best rock band in Britain. Blending pomposity and playfulness, earnestness and impudence, they are plucky upholders of a glorious, specifically English, tradition of pretentious art-pop.

That they haven’t sold many records says less about the Londoners than about the depressive state of rock’n’ roll, which continues to fight a losing battle against the candy-coated double offensive of pop and hip hop.