From January 14 to 25 I will be counting down the ten new acts I expect big things from in 2008. As always, its tough to predict just who will break through and who will fade into obscurity once the year ends, but really, the point of this exercise is to get you pumped about the artists Im pumped about. Enjoy reading, and dont hesitate to point out how right or wrong I was to us when 2009 comes around.
Ahh Fuck Buttons. Its the kinda name thats so cute, you easily forget youre dropping the f-bomb when you say it. Such a name deserves a good home, and it couldnt illustrate this bands sound any better. Comprised of two dudes from Bristol who dont make trip-hop, Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power, Fuck Buttons make tranquil melodies that are slung onto callous slabs of noise. (The songs kind of resemble those cute vampiric puppies in Blade Trinity: all warm and fuzzy at first and then blah! - all of a sudden they bare their vicious blood-sucking jaws.) Originally Hung and Power (Can you think of two more sought after surnames for a man than those?) began as a full-on noise duo, embracing their nihilistic side through punishing rackets, but realised they had a softer side, and began channelling unlikely melodies and rhythms. The result is their deadly forthcoming LP, Street Horrrsing (out March 18 on ATP Recordings), a beast of a record that relentlessly balances fragile balladic melodies with buzzsaw droning and black metal shrieks. Its not an easy balance to hold, so it comes as no surprise that the record was produced by Mogwais John Cummins and mastered by Shellacs Bob Weston both of whom share that same delicate-to-harsh flux in their bands. Recent single "Bright Tomorrow represents the harsh beauty of Fuck Buttons, sticking a timid synth hook and pulsating beat on repeat to draw you in before a thunderous blast of overdrive startles you two-thirds in, setting up the malevolent screams thatll later on appear in your nightmares. Its doubtful noise will ever cross over into musics commonplace rotation, but if there was ever a band to campaign for, its fuckin Fuck Buttons, man.
Fuck Buttons "Bright Tomorrow"
Fuck Buttons will be touring all across Canada in March and April supporting the Dundas, ON-bred Caribou for a "must-see double bill. Dates are below:
3/18 Hamilton ON, The Casbah
3/19 Waterloo ON, Starlight Lounge
3/20 Toronto ON, Lee's Palace
3/21 Toronto ON, Lee's Palace
3/22 Ottawa ON, Babylon
3/23 Montreal QC, La Tulipe
4/13 Winnipeg MB, Royal Albert Arms
4/14 Saskatoon SK, Amigos
4/15 Edmonton AB, Starlite Room
4/16 Calgary AB, Grand Theatre
4/18 Vancouver BC, Biltmore Cabaret (two shows)
4/19 Victoria BC, Sugar
Ahh Fuck Buttons. Its the kinda name thats so cute, you easily forget youre dropping the f-bomb when you say it. Such a name deserves a good home, and it couldnt illustrate this bands sound any better. Comprised of two dudes from Bristol who dont make trip-hop, Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power, Fuck Buttons make tranquil melodies that are slung onto callous slabs of noise. (The songs kind of resemble those cute vampiric puppies in Blade Trinity: all warm and fuzzy at first and then blah! - all of a sudden they bare their vicious blood-sucking jaws.) Originally Hung and Power (Can you think of two more sought after surnames for a man than those?) began as a full-on noise duo, embracing their nihilistic side through punishing rackets, but realised they had a softer side, and began channelling unlikely melodies and rhythms. The result is their deadly forthcoming LP, Street Horrrsing (out March 18 on ATP Recordings), a beast of a record that relentlessly balances fragile balladic melodies with buzzsaw droning and black metal shrieks. Its not an easy balance to hold, so it comes as no surprise that the record was produced by Mogwais John Cummins and mastered by Shellacs Bob Weston both of whom share that same delicate-to-harsh flux in their bands. Recent single "Bright Tomorrow represents the harsh beauty of Fuck Buttons, sticking a timid synth hook and pulsating beat on repeat to draw you in before a thunderous blast of overdrive startles you two-thirds in, setting up the malevolent screams thatll later on appear in your nightmares. Its doubtful noise will ever cross over into musics commonplace rotation, but if there was ever a band to campaign for, its fuckin Fuck Buttons, man.
Fuck Buttons "Bright Tomorrow"
Fuck Buttons will be touring all across Canada in March and April supporting the Dundas, ON-bred Caribou for a "must-see double bill. Dates are below:
3/18 Hamilton ON, The Casbah
3/19 Waterloo ON, Starlight Lounge
3/20 Toronto ON, Lee's Palace
3/21 Toronto ON, Lee's Palace
3/22 Ottawa ON, Babylon
3/23 Montreal QC, La Tulipe
4/13 Winnipeg MB, Royal Albert Arms
4/14 Saskatoon SK, Amigos
4/15 Edmonton AB, Starlite Room
4/16 Calgary AB, Grand Theatre
4/18 Vancouver BC, Biltmore Cabaret (two shows)
4/19 Victoria BC, Sugar