Noise is one of the more enduring fringe scenes but it rarely breeds breakthrough acts. Fuck Buttons is the exception. The Bristol duo’s debut was harsh enough to electrify but had danceable beats and melodies blossoming from the deep. It was, in short, surprisingly digestible. The dog-whistle tones of follow up Tarot Sport, however, were migraine-inducing.
Slow Focus is both headphone music and the kind you need to hear on a mighty sound system, somewhere dark. Live, Fuck Buttons are punishing and immersive, an experience that informs later listening.
Brainfreeze has you in a headlock grip start to finish, with its tin-lid tribal percussion, primate yelps and noise alternately revving and decelerating. While the duo’s dismantling of trance in ‘Year of the Dog’ and industrial-darkened deep house in ‘Sentients’ are worthwhile, it’s only when the retro casio crunch of ‘The Red Wing’ is overlaid with the shimmering, shard-sharp noise Fuck Buttons do so well that it gets really interesting.
[rating:3.5]
