No Longer 'Horrrsing' Around

Bristol duo, Fuck Buttons, formed in 2004 and were signed to the rarefied All Tomorrow's Party label in 2007. In 2008 the group released "Street Horrrsing," a brilliant aural assault of a record that sounds like a noise rock group attempting to create a shoegaze album. I had the privilege of seeing the group perform at the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival and with a Fisher Price cassette player in hand the duo played a raucous, volatile set at Union Park's tiniest stage, captivating the small but steadfast audience with their dynamic, inventive looping. ( Fuck Buttons will be appearing at the Cave in November and are not to be missed. )

This year Andrew Hung and John Benjamin Power (yes those are their real names) have released "Tarot Sport" which showcases the band's maturity and seemingly limitless depth of talent. The album is considerably more focused and less abrasive than "Street Horrrsing," and the record's opener "Surf Solar" sounds like the perfect musical accompaniment to a Dario Argento horror film (sorry Goblin). "Surf Solar" is undeniably spooky yet so remarkably ordered and composed, that it achieves a sort of sonic transcendence. The album's middle track "Olympians" is gorgeously textured and reminiscent of Brian Eno's "Another Green World" album. I thought I would grow tired of an hour long record of discordant noise, but I find myself continually revisiting "Tarot Sport" and upon each listen discovering a new dimension of the group's sophisticated, hypnotic sound.

Surf Solar
Olympians

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