Straight from the Russell Brand school of dress, The Horrors have been accused of being all style over substance.

A mess of haystack hair, schlocky names and black, circulation-stopping outfits, these five boys from Southend are getting used to the flack.

"I would say we have no interest in fashion, and possibly our look reflects the music we listen to," says keyboardist Spider Webb. "It's not something that's come about in the last year or two - it's something that we have been doing since we were in our early teens."

Webb, who formed the group at his club night Junk Club (fittingly set in the basement of a decaying Victorian hotel), continues: "What's even funnier is reading things like, 'They have a £50 haircut and £100 pair of jeans.' But the total price of one of our usual outfits is about £20 - jeans from Primark for £10, shirts from a school shop, two for fiver. That's the extent of our interest in fashion."

Since they played their debut gig at an East End pub in 2005, The Horrors have played everywhere from LA to Hull and appeared on the cover of NME with just two singles under their child-sized belts.

Their debut Strangehouse, produced by Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos, was released last month to very mixed reviews. While some hailed them the heroes of 2007, many critics merely heard a bad pastiche of predecessors who'd done it considerably better, such as Brighton's own Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster or The Damned.

Webb would prefer rehash to rip-off. "We searched out old punk records and went to these weird basement clubs where they played mad garage and punk happenings," he says. "I wouldn't cite one major influence, we just have willingness to experiment, and push boundaries in sound, whether that's in jazz or punk. Deconstructing and putting things back together in music has been an inspiration."

But the fact they're hammier than Sainsbury's cold meat counter - vocalist Faris Badwan is joined by bandmates Coffin Joe, Joshua Von Grim and Tomethy Furse - and their fondness for high-jinx hasn't helped their cause. The gangly Edward Gorey extras recently irritated The Fratellis by smothering their hands in black face paint before pressing flesh, and started a war of words with The Automatic about who was the more talentless. The argument is still ongoing.

"It's weird, because when we do gigs we just set out to play our songs and not annoy or wind up anyone - but we often cause loads of trouble in the process," explains Webb evenly. "Still, we're not interested in pleasing everybody. And we certainly don't have a problem with p****** people off in the process.

"We don't care what people think of us. If we upset people we're not bothered in the slightest."

  • Starts 8pm, tickets £8.50. Call 01273 673311