Concert Mon Apr 07 2008

Touchy Subjects

After playing an opening slot for Battles back in November, Caribou return to Chicago this Friday night to play a headlining set at the Empty Bottle. On their latest tour, they're bringing along their current touring companions -- the British buzz-band Fuck Buttons.

There's three things you need to know about Fuck Buttons: (1) Fuck Buttons is the duo of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power who hail from the British city of Bristol, (2) after playing a number of prestigious European music festivals in 2007, anticipation for their recently-released debut album was high in some indie-rock circles, and (3) Fuck Buttons is a noise-rock outfit. Or, more accurately, a noise-rock band with a rare degree of indie-rock appeal.

Featuring boardwork assistance from John Cummings of Mogwai and Shellac's Bob Weston, the Buttons' debut album, Street Horrrsing, hit stores last month and has been met with laudatory reviews. This warm reception largely hangs on the fact that the groups's debut contains enough vaguely melodic elements to provide points of access for those who otherwise might be noise-rock averse. Tracks like "Sweet Love For Planet Earth" and "Race You To My Bedroom/Spirit Rise" coast along on droning swells of analog keyboards à la Stereolab and chiming, sustained loops of pedaled guitar chords that hang in the air like the heaviest and haziest of shoegaze riffs; while the tribal percussion and delay-drenched animalistic chatter of "Okay Let's Talk About Magic" recalls 23 Skidoo's post-punk forays into urban neo-primitivism. But throughout Street Horrrsing's six lengthy tracks, the duo inevitably disrupts the music's oceanic sweeps and swells with an bursts of noise and distorted vocals; breaking through the pall like garbled distress signals transmitted from the heart of a storm raging somewhere over the horizon.

Caribou and Fuck Buttons play the Empty Bottle this Friday night. 1035 S. Western Ave. Ticket are $10 in advance, $12 the night of. Show starts at 10pm.

[video]: Fuck Buttons – "Bright Tomorrow"

- Graham