Fuck Buttons - Hammersmith Apollo, London, 24/10/2008

  by Chris O'Toole

published: 28 / 10 / 2008

intro

At the Hammersmith Apollo in London Chris O' Toole finds promising Bristol duo avant garde F*ck Buttons, on a support date to Mogwai, used to playing smaller venues, struggling to translate their sound to a bigger audience

Bristol duo Fuck Buttons – composed of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power – have risen through the ranks of amassed noise bands with aplomb since their formation in 2004. Their debut album – 'Street Horrrsing '(released on the All Tomorrows Parties imprint, recorded by John Cummings of Mogwai and mastered by Bob Weston of Shellac) – garnered rave reviews, and propelled the group onto tonight's stage. While they have previously been confined to some of the smaller, albeit hipper, stages of the capital – here at the Hammersmith Apollo they were presented with an opportunity to showcase their talents to what must surely have been one of the larger crowds of their (short) careers. For now at least, Fuck Buttons, however, appear to be slightly out of their depth. While their noise assault can cause rapture in a smaller venue, on the cavernous stage of the Hammersmith Apollo the group is swamped within moments. While Mogwai will later demonstrate the talents and abilities necessary to instil an emotional resonance in their assembled devotees, Fuck Buttons struggle to translate their sound to the larger arena. Largely drawing from 'Street Horrrsing', Power and Hung utilise an array of instruments to create their swirling atmospheric drones – including children's toys, laptops and novelty microphones – but the crowd remains singularly unimpressed. Latest single 'Colours Move' elicits some movement from the audience, but largely the group is greeted with passive inactivity. It is as though the 'noise' group is not noisy enough. Fuck Buttons lack the full out aural assault typical of the genre, relying too much on repetition and diluting the possible immediate impact of their material. There is little left to surprise – especially as the duo has been touring these six or seven songs for well over a year now. Waves of noise ebb and flow, but it is difficult to be swept up in the moment – tonight at least.

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