The Sound and the Flurry

Bearing a name (perhaps smartly) that can’t help but catch your eye, buried in the rows and rows of discs at your local independent record shop, Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power are Fuck Buttons, a fairly seasoned electronic duo from Bristol, England. And with their new record, Slow Focus, they continue to turn heads for reasons having more to do with their packed and playful compositions and less with their undeniably memorable name.

At times in the electronic music scene, it seems as though the various composers and instrumentalists shy away from letting things get too loud. There will always be the run of the mill shifts in tempo, mood, and production, but more often than not, blasting the speakers seems to be a less than desirable choice. However, this is clearly not the case for these boys as the pounding tom-tom drums of the opener “Brainfreeze” suggest they are not above getting a little primal. However the most effective use of loudness on the record is clearly seen in the twin ten minute behemoths that end the record, “Stalker” and “Hidden XS” respectively.

“Stalker” builds a little bit beforehand, scooping up a nice Air-style groove and piercing synths propel the track skyward. With an ensuing wave of distortion washing over everything beneath it, you’ve got a Spector-esque wall of sound that almost borders on noise. “Hidden XS” reaches a similar zenith where it sounds like every tool and effect available is dispensed at the same time, and with full volume in tow. “Stalker” works better from a compositional standpoint, as it balances the insanity with an infectious groove, but both are sonic achievements worthy of a large stereo system working overtime.

Elsewhere, you get more experimental tracks like the apocalyptic intro of “Year of the Dog” and the creeping murk of “Prince’s Prize.” Although they might not produce the same type of reaction the more primal tracks emit, Power and Hung prove that there’s more than a couple dudes twisting recording console nobs and repeating keyboard shortcuts. To their credit, the duo do dream up some creative sounds to enter the fracas. These sonic battles aren’t always clean and tidy, and more often than not veer sharply this way and that. However, at the end of the day, they nonetheless feel more like choices than they do accidents. In this way, a track like “The Red Wing” is a seemingly effective synthesis of the duo’s decibel bursting forays and their quirky, challenging experiments.

So even though Slow Focus does offer the sleek, ever-present beats and complex series of arrangements that are staples of electronic and experimental music respectively, their marriage here, compounded with the fearless allowances of pure white knuckled volume give the whole record a refreshing feel from its fellow electronic brethren. It’s not a perfect record, as at its worst, things get a tad too close to pure “snow-on-the-television”-type noise, but it’s an overall creative, fun, and effective one.