F*ck Buttons - Tarot Sport Review
Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 10.26.2009
A record of the year contender brought to you by a duo called F*ck Buttons.
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Review by Daniel Wilcox
Andrew Hung
Benjamin John Power
Track listing:
1. Surf Solar
2. Rough Steez
3. The Lisbon Maru
4. Olympians
5. Phantom Limb
6. Space Mountain
7. Flight of the Feathered Serpent
From the opening few seconds of the ten-minute album starter “Surf Solar,” any listener can tell that this is techno music quite unlike anything else out there. It’s dark and sinister in nature, yet terrifically psychedelic, and when, after about a minute and a half, the thumping bass drum kicks in, one simply losses themselves in the hellish atmosphere Fuck Buttons create. So few artists in this particular genre bring the levels of creativity and imagination that Fuck Buttons provide. “Surf Solar,” although it builds up almost stagnantly, does eventually climax in an hypnotic whirlpool of sounds and despite its length uncharacteristic of a techno track, it does come as a disappointment when it eventually ends. Or at least, it would if the finale of one song didn’t lead to the beginning of the next, and thus the insatiable trance you find yourself in upon listen to Tarot Sport continues to engulf you relentlessly.
The album closes with another 10-minute monster, the fantastically titled “Flight of the Feathered Serpent,” its melancholic keyboards adding a real macabre drone, mirroring one of the band’s most popular tracks to date, “Bright Tomorrow,” from their much-acclaimed debut Street Horrrsing. As good as that record was channelling early Animal Collective, it had flaws in that Hung and Power often glanced over certain elements of the music and that left duller moments more noticeable. Tarot Sport features no dull, lifeless elements; on the contrary it is the antithesis of lifeless and although we’re never quite sure where this record is going, it is constantly accelerating to something all the more meaningful. Quite what that is, I have no idea, but I guarantee it lies somewhere within these seven tracks, which comprise an absolute mindfuck of adrenaline and tripping sensations.
Tarot Sport is built around the epic one-two punch of “The Lisbon Maru” and “Olympians,” which clock in at roughly nine and eleven minutes respectively. The former favours real beats over processed ones but eventually succumbs to an array of keys that segue smoothly, almost seamlessly, into “Olympians,” which removes some of the grandeur or the previous track in favour of unadulterated trancery. The former is an absolute master class of gentle builds and dancefloor traction, a plane of shimmering synthesizers and pedal effects that is littered with the band’s signature sound.
“Rough Steez” and “Phantom Limb” essentially serve as stopping points to smoothly transition the listener onto the next focus of the record, which essentially has three chapters; the opening track, the aforementioned middle pairing and then the penultimate and final track. “Rough Steez” and “Phantom Limb” are flawless in bringing you down from the highs that are the longer, more complex pieces, but still keeping you hypnotized long enough to real fall prey to the unrelenting fantasia that is those mammoth tracks, “The Lisbon Maru” and “Flight of the Feathered Serpent” probably being the best of the bunch although, honestly, there’s not a bad track on the record.
Don’t get me wrong, this album isn’t for everyone. And I’m not condoning nor promoting substance abuse. But if you like this kind of music, and engage in such behaviours as I’m sure some of you do, if were to throw this record on and pop a couple of pills, I can guarantee one of the greatest trips of your life. You’d almost see your problems pouring out of you and ebbing away as the music suddenly makes you realize that nothing else matters, nothing else but Fuck Buttons and Tarot Sport, a breathtaking piece of musicianship.
Essential downloads: “Surf Solar,” “The Lisbon Maru,” “Olympians,” “Space Mountain” and “Flight of the Feathered Serpent.”
The 411: Simply put, Tarot Sport is an outstanding album that proves that the album is far from dead. Fuck Buttons are in essence a noise band with tunes, as strange as may seem, as their songs worm their way into your consciousness and stay there no matter what. Making brilliant use of synthesizers, pedals, beats, keys and all sorts of obscure sounds, Fuck Buttons have put together an album that not only eclipses their own impressive debut, but also anything else in the genre. Stunning.
