Friday 25 September 2009

Fuck Buttons @ Stereo 24/9/09

A couple of days before tonight I suffered a slightly awkward moment upon purchasing a friend’s ticket for this evening show. Uttering the words ‘Fuck Buttons’ drew a quizzical expression from the ticket agent along with embarrassed giggles from a group of young girls. However, if these people had experienced the music of Fuck Buttons I’m sure they’d reverse their reaction, either for that of absorbed amazement or sheer terror, as Fuck Buttons are one of the most complex sounding electronic acts to emerge from the UK in recent years.

The Bristol duo is not the most visually stimulating as they bop up and down in relative darkness, still the ear busting noise created more than makes up for the lack of visual entertainment. At time the sound is almost apocalyptic when they power through tracks from brutally brilliant debut album, Street Horrrsing, as they push the audience’s ears to the verge of self-destruct.

The show tonight also gives a preview of second album Tarot Sport, for those who have not already experienced it. Tarot Sport, released by ATP Recordings on 14th October, sees Fuck Buttons walk a much more accessible path than their previous work, but still the complex collage of sound remains only in less scary, yet not necessarily better, mould.

Benjamin John Power and Andrew Hung’s sound that holds a majority of a jam-packed Stereo crowd affixed in some sort of awestruck wonder. The band may not bring any real entertainment for the eyes, but are both physically as engrossed in their sound as their audience are. Once the show is finished it takes a good minute to remove yourself from the trancelike state forced open you by the sheer force of noise created, a force the duo should take a huge amount of credit for creating.

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