January 11, 2008

Band To Watch: Fuck Buttons

Fuck Buttons are the Bristol duo of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power, who started clanging things together in '04. You could rope them in with softer sounding At All Ends-style Yellow Swans or Burning Star Core: Their songs are expansive, melodic drone pieces that layer slabs of distortion and colorful notes with climactic, end-of-song overdriven vocals that burn with an almost four-track black metal air. That said, no matter how harsh, the songs retain a fragility and a kaleidoscope of hooks. Fuck Buttons aren't an unknown band, no, but like their music, they're headed into some new stratosphere. The "Bright Tomorrow" picture disc (backed with "Little Bloody Shoulder") came out 10/22 on ATP. "Bright," their signature jam so far, is the first single from the forthcoming six-track Street Horrrsing, which was (fittingly, in a dynamic sense) recorded by Mogwai's John Cummings and mastered by Shellac's Bob Weston (who's done live sound for 'em, too). You can hear the aforementioned "Bright Tomorrow" along with "Sweet Love For Planet Earth" at FuckSpace. The latter, especially, mixes in the trance of Prurient's Pleasure Ground with a sorta Dead C stroll. But it's so much warmer than that. We've seen comparisons to Wolf Eyes, but that's not entirely right: The wiser choice there would be vintage Richard Youngs (not the new stuff), most definitely, and the way he figured out how to arc a sunset. It's just that these guys have a Fort Thunder sense of graphic design.

In the spirit of overkill, let's mention the truly excellent "Bright Tomorrow" two more times -- while trying to avoid a "bright tomorrow" pun. You can watch the multi-hued video for the song after the jump. On this side of the rainbow, the dudes are just horrrsing around.

Fuck Buttons

The YouTube note tells us this was directed by Fuck Button Hung and that it's "all original footage shot using a camera phone." He composed it in Adobe Affect Effects and edited it in Adobe Premiere Pro. That's what we call computer-aged D.I.Y. If you aren't a video fan, take this one home.

Fuck Buttons - "Bright Tomorrow" (MP3)

And, to cap it, here they are doing another Horrrsing track "Okay Let's Talk About Magic" at the Windmill in Brixton.

Street Horrrsing is out 3/1 on ATP. Dudes will be pretty easy to watch with all these live dates -- wherein they're supporting fellow Stereogum favorites Caribou.

03/18 - Hamilton, Ontario @ The Casbah
03/19 - Waterloo, Ontario @ Starlight Lounge
03/20 - Toronto, Ontario @ Lee's Palace
03/21 - Toronto, Ontario @ Lee's Palace
03/22 - Ottawa, Ontario @ Babylon
03/23 - Montreal, Quebec @ La Tulipe
03/24 - Durham, NH @ Strafford Room
03/25 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
03/26 - Boston, MA @ Paradise
03/27 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
03/28 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
03/29 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
03/30 - Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
03/31 - Charlottesville, VA @ Satellite Ballroom
04/01 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
04/02 - Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club
04/03 - Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds
04/04 - Orlando, FL @ The Social
04/05 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
04/06 - Tampa, FL @ Crowbar
04/07 - Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder
04/08 - Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
04/09 - Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center
04/10 - Urbana, IL @ Illini Union Courtyard Café
04/12 - Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Club
04/13 - Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Royal Albert Arms
04/14 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan @ Amigos
04/15 - Edmonton, Alberta @ Starlite Room
04/16 - Calgary, Alberta @ Grand Theatre
04/18 - Vancouver, British Columbia @ Biltmore Cabaret (two shows)
04/19 - Victoria, British Columbia @ Sugar
04/20 - Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
04/21 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
04/23 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
04/24 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
04/25 - Tucson, AZ @ Plush
04/26 - El Paso, TX @ Club 101
04/27 - Austin, TX @ Emo's
04/28 - Dallas, TX @ Palladium Loft
04/29 - Tulsa, OK @ The Continental
04/30 - Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar
05/01 - St. Louis, MO @ The Billiken Club
05/02 - Bloomington, IN @ Waldron Auditorium
05/03 - Oberlin, OH @ Oberlin College
05/04 - Buffalo, NY @ Big Orbit's Soundlab