Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus

July 22, 2013 • ATP Recordings

Fuck Buttons was a real cool band back in 2008, for sure. One of the first "good" live shows I saw, and Street Horrrsing was a noise/electronica classic in my book. I've kept up with the band only casually since then, but it's good to know that they're still putting out some quality stuff. Slow Focus is definitively their least-good so far, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth listening to.

Not much has changed for the duo since 2009 and here we have basically the same sound that we had on Tarot Sport, coupling together driving tribal rhythms and percussion with warm and atmospheric sawtooth synth layers (with some cool sound effects too, in a way that Black Dice might do if Black Dice were still good). It's a bit less intense and aggressive; the tracks don't really have the same wall-of-sound thing going on, but the dynamics we get instead are mostly well-done and work great on keeping the tracks interesting and moving forward. And every now and again it does include those brain-pounding moments, like "Stalker"'s heavy ending minutes.

It has a few minor issues that are holding it back, though. A couple of the some of the melodies and "hooks" are a bit silly, like "The Red Wing", which make it hard to take the album seriously and take away from its overall quality. There are still no vocals, disappointingly; the harsh distorted screaming was one of the more interesting elements of their older material and it looks like it's gone for good.

And like all Fuck Buttons, Slow Focus relies a lot on repetition; I can see this being a downside for some people and yeah, maybe the album isn't extremely interesting the whole way through, but there is enough attention to detail and little bits here and there that stick out and make the experience as a whole worth it. I can definitely understand people getting bored with it, though, and it doesn't have a ton of replay value. On the other hand, the song structures are definitely more well-crafted and less chaotic than they used to be, so that's a plus.

It's definitely an enjoyable album. Not the classic that Street Horrrsing was for me, but it has its merits and it will definitely have its fans. I'm honestly a bit surprised that in the last few years I don't seem to have been hearing many other artists making stuff like this... but for now I'm satisfied with what we have so far.

6

Black Dice – Mr. Impossible

April 9, 2012 • Ribbon Music

I owe a lot to Black Dice. Their debut Beaches and Canyons was the album solely responsible for getting me into more unusual music, especially noise—you could say it fundamentally changed the way I listened to music after I heard it. This makes it all the more heartbreaking when I consider how they've gotten steadily worse ever since, and I haven't really enjoyed anything else they've put out, aside from the just-okay Creature Comforts. Mr. Impossible, being their sixth album, unfortunately fits their downward trend all too well.

I think the biggest problem with this album is simply that they are trying to do too many things at once and are mediocre at all of them, instead of focusing on one thing and perfecting it. Clearly, they are aiming for some sort of heavily rhythmic loop-based sound—I guess they've always done the looping samples thing, but here it's more obnoxious than anything. None of the samples seem to fit together and there is always way too much going on at once; it's almost always barraging the listener with something new, as if to scream "Listen to me!!" nonstop. And the samples themselves are a mixed bag; some sound okay, but a lot are grating, especially when looped as they are—the processed vocal samples are the worst offenders (just listen to "Brunswick Sludge", man that is bad).

There are instances where Black Dice hit on something that works, and there are a few solid tracks—"Pinball Wizard", "Spy vs. Spy", "Carnitas"—and the occasional throwback to their better days, like the awesome vocals in "The Jacker" (sadly the only good part of that piece). Some of the rhythms and drum lines are pretty solid too, occasionally reminding me of a more electronic version of Raccoo-oo-oon.

But that's about it. Most of the tracks are just annoying. As much as I try to ignore my bias of what Black Dice "should" sound like, I can't enjoy this album. I can't even say it's a grower—after four listens it still sounds like it did on the first: bad.

3

Purity Ring – Shrines

July 24, 2012 • 4AD Records

Never say nothing good can come out of dumb fads. Remember the whole witch house thing that was really popular with artsy underground artists back in 2008–2009? Okay, so I liked some of it, even if it was kind of silly. But finally something amazing has come out of that scene—Purity Ring's fantastic debut album. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing I'd like at all but I can't stop listening to it.

In fact I think a pop shift was exactly what witch house needed; I always liked the production style but most bands were missing something. I guess that something was a really solid sense of melody and vocals to realize it. Shrines has catchy hook after catchy hook, and the vocals play off the synths and samples really well to bring everything together. Sure, those choruses can get a bit too saccharine for my tastes now and again, but on the other hand it's a nice contrast to the spacey, jittering, echoing production.

Speaking of which, the album has an incredibly consistent sound. With just a couple exceptions, each track is pretty much the same thing, which is great if you happen to like what they are doing. I do, and I think the over-consistency is a strong point on this album (which is rare for me to think), though I can completely understand it boring the pants off other people, especially those for whom the chintzy drum and synth programming is unappealing. But when unique elements come into play they stand out in a great way, such as the male vocals on "Grandloves", which are one of my favorite parts of the album.

And now I'll tear down everything I said with this: Purity Ring shouldn't have released this, and should have stayed a singles band instead. (Or an EPs band at best.) I love their music but Shrines can be hard to digest all at once (for reasons stated above). Most of these songs are strong enough to stand on their own (something they've already demonstrated); the weaker ones don't bring anything extra to the album format and the overall flow isn't terribly good.

Regardless, I am still probably gonna keep this one in rotation for a long time. I'm not sure if it has any more staying power than the mostly-forgettable witch house from whence it came, but time will tell. If nothing else, best ethereal pop album of 2012 for sure, am I right?

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