The rainforest meets cyberspace somewhere in the near future on Fuck Buttons’ debut, Street Horrrsing. The U.K. duo of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power craft an electro-post-rock soundscape both original, and yet eerily familiar. While Horrrsing is only six tracks, they average out at over eight minutes each, giving these two Brits more than enough time to overwhelm. What’s more, each track quite seamlessly blends into the next, creating a truly ‘gapless’ album.
Horrrsing opens with the slow, haunting post-rock of “Sweet Love For Planet Earth”, which also contains a twinkle in the background and strong underpinnings. “Ribs Out” introduces Fuck Buttons circle-stick-jungle drumming, and when combined with high-pitched echoing screams, it all gives the impression of some sort of ‘cyberpunk cannibal hunting party’, click-clacking the bones of their last meal as they hunt down their next prey in the urban jungle. It is, however, a little grating at times, but at less than four minutes, is also the shortest piece on the record.
Fuck Buttons turn to static on “Okay, Let’s Talk About Magic”, and combine that with the stick-drumming for an anxious energy. The static attack of “Race You To My Bedroom – Spirit Rise” washes over the listener, but can be a little too aggressive. Stronger is the high, almost indietronic “Bright Tomorrow”, which sees the band look forward to the future not in fear, but in expansive hope.
Everything is put together on the epic finisher, “Colours Move”, from pushing stick-drumming to static-y expanse, growing out to the canopy like some diverse rainforest ecosystem (perhaps this is what Paul Simon meant when sang about “lasers in the jungle” on Graceland’s “The Boy In the Bubble” – or perhaps not…). While Hung & Power have some problems with titles, who needs words anyway?
