Up until a few months ago, barely anyone in America was aware of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power's project, Fuck Buttons. But, despite only recently hitting the blog circuit with their debut album, Street Horrrsing, the two noisemakers from Bristol, England have in fact been around since 2004. And now that they're in the midst of a 36-stop tour in support of Caribou, their reputation as a noisy musical force will surely be put to the test.
If anything, Hung and Power have clearly done their listening. Every element that you’d expect from a band riding hype's crest can be found within the album’s six tracks: Glacial drones, tube-fed electronic leads, and trancey rhythms all mesh comfortably, while distorted screams recall last year’s stunning Burning Star Core album, Operator Dead... Post Abandoned (although on a notably pared-down scale). But what makes Fuck Buttons stick out from the Nord Electros of their predecessors?
Aside from the flashy geometric album art, what makes them truly notable is their channeling, not their exploring. “Ribs Out” recalls some of the best Drum’s Not Dead (Liars) grooves, while “Bright Tomorrow” treads between a Knife B-side and a Mothersbaugh film score. The latter track is the logical single, but this is unfortunate since it’s the album's poppiest and thus not the most representative of their aesthetic. Elsewhere, the oscillating sawteeth of “Sweet Love for Planet Earth” sink into a groove and buildup so slowly that the second half of album seems like an evasion after such a gorgeously subtle beginning.
Indeed, Fuck Buttons have synthesized the vibrations of the last 10 years in noise music and churned out a polished remix, a rare feat in noisy music. Sure, Street Horrrsing doesn’t overtly delineate any new sonic set, but its execution and relative brevity reflect highly on these two venerable artists.
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