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Back in February of this year, i got a copy of Street Horrrsing in the mail. I looked at it, thought, "One of the first rules of being in a band should be that the name has to be something you can say out loud to your Grandmother without being embarrassed." Even though my (lone surviving) Grandmother is a bitter and mean old woman, i still could not say the phrase "Fuck Buttons" in front of her without feeling as if i were a bad person. So i set this aside, in the "maybe listen to later, if i am bored" part of the EvilSponge Promo Stack, and forgot about it.
Then, much to my surprise, Fuck Buttons were heavily hyped at this year's SxSW. Huh. I made a mental note to go back and listen to the album, which i did in April. Street Horrrsing is about an hour of noise, often with that type of vocal that can only be described as "uncontrolled screaming, as if in agony". And people liked this? I put the CD back on the shelf.
Then, a month or so ago Mogwai announced that they were going on tour, and sure enough Fuck Buttons was set as the opening act for the Atlanta date. Since i was the only person who had heard the record, people kept asking me what they were like. Let me sum it up for you with this exchange, which actually happened a few weeks back, when Wendy Big-Hair was visiting and i had masses of people over at the PostLibyan Condo for festivities.
"I see you have the Fuck Buttons record," said Inspector Jason, who had been peering at the unwanted promo shelf. "Mind if I give it a listen."
"Go ahead," i say, as i finish the cooking (which, at this point, mostly entailed trying to get previously prepared pot stickers to unstick themselves from the bamboo slats of the steamer…)
((( Noise happens ))))
Inspector Jason is looking confusedly at the stereo, and more guests arrive. It is erstwhile film critic Squid and his wife Fyno. Squid stares forcefully at the stereo for a moment and then turns to look at me. "I think your stereo is broken," he says.
At which point i switch off the Fuck Buttons record and turn to something much more party-like. (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, if you must know.)
So, yes, Fuck Buttons sounds, for the most part, like there is something wrong with your stereo. I know that certain people really get in to that sort of thing. I myself happen to own many Autechre albums, and Tracers does in fact own a copy of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music (of which we have managed to listen to no more than 20 minutes in any one sitting). However, this type of thing really isn't for everyone.
That said, there are only 6 songs here, so let me go over them briefly.
Sweet Love For Planet Earth starts off promisingly with a nice keyboard melody that tinkles around for a few minutes. Then a loud and distorted bass riff is layered in, which is strange but still pretty okay. More keyboard drones come and go, and the bass goes into a bit of crazy phase-shifting, which is nicely psychedelic. And then, at 5:31 in the song, the screaming starts. I think here he is screaming about getting his foot caught in the door of a car as someone is trying to drive away, and they don't notice him.
The next tune here, 2 Ribs Out, is the most interesting in my reckoning. Strange rhythm clatters in a way highly reminiscent of High Places, while the voice makes odd echoing screams. This is like the music the ancient IDM tribespeople danced to around the fires, in their caves, before they went out to hunt mammoths, or score primitive ecstasy. It manages to sound extremely primitive, and yet over-intellectually modern at once.
The next song is called Okay, Let's Talk About Magic. Here there is an intense wavering synth tone that goes on for several minutes. The screaming of track one comes back, then disappears, and the clattering percussion from track two comes in, buried under the fuzzy drone. This is a pretty interesting song, but it clocks in at just over 10 minutes, and it gets old long before then.
Track four is where they completely lose me. The song is called Race You To My Bedroom/ Spirit Rise, and i have been unable to listen to more than a minute of the over nine minutes that this song drags on. It makes me want to punch someone in the face. Repeatedly. It's the same type of thing that DNTel did, with great irritation, on Life Is Full Of Possibilities ( a record which i proudly admit to being the only person to give a bad review of). That is to say, this song sounds like it is being broadcast about 2 clicks of the radio dial away from what you are actually listening to. So, imagine your dial is set to 88.7 instead of 88.5, and you kind of half-hear Album 88 over a wall of fuzz. That is what this is like. It is so annoying that it actually makes me angry. I hope they don't "perform" this when they open for Mogwai or i might have to pummel a British noise musician! Really -- this is the most annoying thing on the planet. Don't do this. Ever. Bad Fuck Buttons -- no biscuit!
The next song is another interesting one. It's called Bright Tomorrow, and has a nice organ riff, a metronomic beat, and a wavering tone synth tone. After four minutes, some intense distortion gets layered in, and then comes the screaming. It's almost a formula, isn't it?
Finally we have Colours Move this has the synth tone, the clattering percussion, and the screaming. Except, i think there are two voices this time.
So, Street Horrrsing is definitely not for everyone, but there are some good ideas here. I think that Fuck Buttons stretch their good ideas out far too long. That is, if this release totally skipped track four, and was ten minutes long, i would think it was pretty cool. Oh, and lose the vocals too. As it is, they get boring real quick.
My advice to most people is: avoid this. If you are the type of person that would like this record, chances are you already heard about it on the Merzbow Fan Discussion Listserv anyway. Everyone else probably doesn't really need to hear this.
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