Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
Progression is at once the enemy and the friend of new bands the world over. Don’t progress, and you’re condemned as formulaic and linear, a relative dinosaur compared to others expanding their horizons and aiming for that bright blue yonder. But equally, stray too far from the confines you set yourself on your first LP/demo/EP and you might be accused of betraying your musical ideals and values, or trying to run before you’ve managed to crawl.
It’s with a little trepidation that I approach Tarot Sport therefore: having heard from band and critic alike that this is a new direction for Fuck Buttons, I’m unsure as to whether it’ll be a Great Leap Forward or a disastrous attempt at revolution. I should relax, really, because I know that Fuck Buttons are one of my favourite acts of the past few years, and that they’d have to deviate pretty far from their norm to disappoint me.
What is certain is that a combination of more expensive equipment and working with Andrew Weatherall has smoothed out some of the duo’s rougher edges: opener ‘Surf Solar’ might open with electronic trills and squiggles, but it’s not the buzzsaw power electronics of ‘Sweet Love For Planet Earth’. That’s not necessarily a bad thing either; as what I’m informed is a looped, distorted sample of a cheerleader rally chatters over pounding blockbeats, before a slightly blunted buzz of white noise cuts in. Fuck Buttons have gone happy hardcore, without even knowing it – ‘Surf Solar’ is ten minutes of extremely euphoric dance music, which sets the tone fro the remainder of the record.
Which leads nicely onto my next point: those on the lookout for a ‘noise’ record should shy away from Tarot Sport. The ‘noise’ bracket is a sloppy one, and I reject those who decry Fuck Buttons as ‘Whitehouse for pussies’ or ‘Ramleh for bedwetters’ as misinformed. The duo may lack some structural diversity; each track sees them stack their lego blockbeats into a joyously multicoloured pyramid before taking a running swat at the construction, but Fuck Buttons were never about audio masochism or eardrum puncturing: Sweet Love For Planet Earth didn’t confine itself to ‘noise’ paradigms of raw volume or free-jazz wanderings, preferring a more structured and accessible approach, akin to dance music.
Tarot Sport definitely takes this a step further, logically. As a sometime noise listener, it’s clear that the pair have a wide knowledge of noise music, but perhaps also a newfound or rediscovered love of straighter forms of electronic music. As such ‘The Lisbon Maru’ bends sheets of buzzing electronics around bubbling samples and another thumping drumbeat. It’s easy to see why ‘Olympians’ was so named, as its clean sound brings to mind Sally Gunnell charging down the home straight in excruciating slow motion, a beautifully hopeful synth line leaping out from the cacophony around halfway through.
There is a feeling that Tarot Sport could potentially disappoint as many as it fills with joy, and whilst it is certainly a less immediate record (to these ears) than it’s gnarlier sounding predecessor, it still has a ferocious bite hidden within those leaping melody lines. If this is what dance music is, then consider me interested once more.
