Street Horrrsing

Album Review

Some bands with a name like F**k Buttons would go for a raunchy approach, but on their debut Street Horrrsing, the Bristol-based group focuses on messing with layers of sounds instead of anything sleazy. F**k Buttons' collage of brittle electronics, post-rock epics, and blistering noise recalls more than a few other bands — they're capable of raging like Wolf Eyes, conjuring Aa's dead calm, echoing Mogwai's majesty and mining similar territory to tourmates like Stars of the Lid and Deerhunter — but they put these elements together in their own beautiful, and often unsettling, way. Street Horrrsing opens with "Sweet Love for Planet Earth," a nine-minute epic that starts off twinkling like a snow globe (or the theme to The Exorcist), then swells with thick clouds of distorted synths and bass. Despite the layers of noise, the song radiates an intense, cathartic, and remarkably subtle beauty, even when fuzzed-out screaming cuts through the haze like a dream pop take on Wolf Eyes. Its pulsing bass morphs into rattling percussion as "Ribs Out"'s tribal terror takes F**k Buttons' music in a very different direction, trading oddly comforting sheets of distortion for stark, unyielding rhythms, and feral yips and wails. The rest of the album lies somewhere between these extremes, flowing as one long piece while the band finds a surprising amount of variety in the blunt rhythms, penetrating electronic haze, and distorted vocals that make up Street Horrrsing's main motifs. F**k Buttons use noise richly and expressively, but they're far from a noise band; even on the densest, most frantic moments like "OK, Let's Talk About Magic," a striking melodic sensibility guides these songs. Conversely, the prettiest moments still have a scary streak: "Race You to My Bedroom"'s dense atmosphere has a glowing, sunset loveliness, but its wordless chattering makes it equally rapturous and ominous. F**k Buttons' sound gets more unique when they add some unexpected twists to it, as on "Bright Tomorrow," where a four-on-the-floor beat transforms the song into noise-house. Before it ends on the same sparkling melody that opened Street Horrrsing, "Colours Move" closes the album by reprising everything that came before it with a strangely jubilant air — or maybe not so strangely, because this debut is as satisfying as it is promising.