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Fuck Buttons

 
Artist: Fuck Buttons
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Similar Artists:

Stars of the Lid, Black Dice, Animal Collective, Wolf Eyes, Deathprod

Influenced By:

Boredoms, Sonic Youth, Portishead, Pelt, Brian Eno, Kluster, My Bloody Valentine, Richard Youngs, The Velvet Underground, Can, Tony Conrad, Spacemen 3, Mogwai, Stereolab, Psychic TV, The Dead C
  • Formed: 2004, Bristol, England
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Street Horrrsing

Biography

The Bristol, England-based experimental duo Fuck Buttons -- Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power -- formed in late 2004 and signed to the ATP label, releasing the "Bright Tomorrow" b/w "Little Bloody Shoulder" 7" single during the fall of 2007, with live dates throughout England (with Liars, Stars of the Lid, and Deerhunter, to name a few) following soon thereafter. They released their first album, Street Horrrsing, which was produced by Mogwai's John Cummings, in 2008. The duo drafted Two Lone Swordsmen's Andrew Weatherall to produce the following year's Tarot Sport, which found Fuck Buttons moving in a blissful, more overtly electronic direction. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Fuck Buttons
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Fuck Buttons

Performing at Summer Sundae 2008
Background information
Origin Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Genres Drone
Electronic
Years active 2004–present
Labels ATP Recordings
Website myspace.com/fuckbuttons
Members
Andrew Hung
Benjamin John Power

Fuck Buttons are a two-piece experimental group formed in Bristol, England in early 2004 by Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power.[1]

Contents

Biography

Hung and Power grew up in Worcester, and both had made music separately while growing up.[2][3] Hung was influenced by Aphex Twin's acid techno while Power was a fan of post-rock band Mogwai.[3] They developed a friendship while attending art school in Bristol in 2004,[2] and began working together, initially to create the soundtrack to a film made by Hung.[3] Immediately after forming, Fuck Buttons started to play live whenever possible, soon amassing a dedicated cult following throughout the UK. Hung and Power use a variety of instruments including casiotone keyboards and children's toys such as a Fisher-Price karaoke machine.[3] Their name was chosen to sound "playful and abrasive".[3]

Time Out magazine described the band's live sound as "adrenaline pumping, ear purging slab of towering, pristine noise…"[4] The duo signed to All Tomorrow's Parties-affiliated ATP Recordings in 2007, and released a limited-edition 7" single named "Bright Tomorrow",[1] which received complimentary reviews from such sources as Drowned in Sound, Pitchfork Media (who described it as "something like the sun rising over the ocean... then going supernova"[5]), Mojo (it became their #1 Mojo Playlist Single for that month) and Stereogum.

Combined with an upsurge in reviews of their live performances at the Supersonic, Truck and Portishead-curated ATP festivals in the second half of 2007, this attention resulted in Fuck Buttons being included in many end of year newspaper, magazine and online articles predicting them as a 'Hot Tip' for 2008. These included New-Noise, who said that "rarely have two men sounded so much like the end of the world"[6] and British newspaper The Observer, which called their sound "A joyous racket of swirling atmospherics and percussive gunfire" in an article highlighting them in a new wave of intelligent, literate British pop music.[7]

They started the year with a tour of slightly larger UK venues, supported by label-mate Alexander Tucker. This was done to build anticipation for their debut album, Street Horrrsing, which was released on March 17. Produced by John Cummings of Mogwai[1] and mastered by Bob Weston of Shellac, it was promoted through festival appearances (including a slot at this May's ATP vs Pitchfork festival) and a North American tour with Caribou. The band have also started to receive some airplay from mainstream BBC Radio stations, whose DJs often struggle to think of an alternative moniker to announce in place of the band's full name.
"Space Mountain"
Sample of a track from 2009's Tarot Sport
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Early reviews of Street Horrrsing were very positive; it was named Underground Album of the Month by Mojo Magazine, who called it "A 50 minute melange of iridescent synths, psychedelic drone, distorted vocals and tribal rhythm." Pitchfork Media awarded it with an 8.6 out of 10 rating which placed it in their "best new music" section. Positive reviews also featured in The Times, The Observer, The Wire, NME, Rock Sound, Kerrang!, Uncut, Sydney Morning Herald, and many other music publications and websites. It was also chosen for the shortlist of The Guardian's First Album awards.[8]

In September 2008 the second single from Street Horrrsing was released in the form of a 12"/digital release of "Colours Move" backed by an Andrew Weatherall remix of "Sweet Love For Planet Earth". The single was launched at London's Rough Trade East where both Fuck Buttons and Weatherall performed on Monday 1 September. In September and October 2008 they supported Mogwai on tours of the UK, USA and Canada. A limited split EP was sold during this tour, containing a Mogwai remix of "Colours Move" and Fuck Buttons' cover of "Mogwai Fear Satan".

In 2009, the band appeared at the Australian All Tomorrow's Parties event, alongside acts such as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Necks and Spiritualized. They released their second album, the Andrew Weatherall-produced Tarot Sport in October 2009.[1] It has been well received with Rock Sound giving it an 8 out of 10 rating and hailing its consistency "the continuity gluing them together confirms a genuine full-length article to brandish at all those gun-jumping ‘The album is dead’ doomsayers,"[9] while Allmusic gave it a 4-star rating, describing it as "an impressive step forward for Fuck Buttons".[10] Discussing it with Exclaim! magazine, the band admitted that "direction is not something we are conscious about because it doesn't fit into our creative process. We just want to keep being content and surprising ourselves." [11]

Discography

Singles

  • "Bright Tomorrow" (limited picture Disc 7″ single, ATPR, 2007)
  • "Colours Move" (12″/download single, ATPR, 2008)
  • "Surf Solar" (7″/download single, ATPR, 2009)

Remixes

  • "If I Had a Heart" - Fever Ray (If I Had a Heart (Single), 2008)

References

  1. ^ a b c d Kellman, Andy "Fuck Buttons Biography", Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation, retrieved 22 November 2009
  2. ^ a b Interview: Fuck Buttons, retrieved 5 December 2009
  3. ^ a b c d e Santoro, Gene (2008) "F- Buttons bring the noise", New York Daily News, 28 March 2008, retrieved 22 November 2009
  4. ^ Time Out, 8th January 2008
  5. ^ Pitchfork: Forkcast
  6. ^ Top Tips For 2008 Pt.I - Band Profile
  7. ^ Observer Music Monthly, 20th January 2008
  8. ^ "Who should win the Guardian first album award?", The Guardian, 6 November 2008, retrieved 22 November 2009
  9. ^ Kennedy, Adam F. (2009) "Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport", Rock Sound, retrieved 22 November 2009
  10. ^ Phares, Heather "Tarot Sport Review", Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation, retrieved 22 November 2009
  11. ^ Lindsay, Cam (2009) "Fuck Buttons' Surprise", Exclaim!, November 2009, retrieved 22 November 2009
  12. ^ Album Information, Billboard.com

External links


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