Holy Fuck

In a hurry. Nightshift review. Some good bands. One bloody dire one. Fun.

FUCK BUTTONS/ THE KEYBOARD CHOIR/ CUTTING PINK WITH KNIVES/ EDUARD SOUNDINGBLOCK, Big Hair, The Cellar, 6/7/07

It’s well known that Eduard Soundingblock is the new band from half of the much missed Suitable Case For Treatment. What might be more surprising is that Eduard also features members from such disparate acts as Phyal and The Drugsquad. At first glance the expected metal tropes and spacerock swirls are all present, but the entire effect is surprisingly rootsy. In fact, the clipped, grainy vocals put us in mind of Jon Spencer, of all people. Admittedly, that’s Jon Spencer stretched on a rack in The Melvins’ dungeon while The Cardiacs look on approvingly, but hey. It’s early days yet, but Eduard look as though they shall retain the Beefheart cheekiness of SC4T whilst edging into the scabjazz extremism of N0ught. Warning: it’s going to be good.

Good is not a word that Cutting Pink With Knives inspire – apart from “Good God, are they still playing?” A camp American and a cheap synth originally promises something like Hammer Vs The Snake, but ultimately they just crank out bargain basement hardcore laced with lame jokes. It’s a little like pre-Def JamBeastie Boys, except that it’s unspeakably, unmitigatedly awful.

Watching The Keyboard Choir is something like auditing some bloated Civil Service Administration: “Err, what exactly do you do here?” Whilst there’s probably at least 2 members and four machines more than is strictly necessary, the Choir are a great live experience, especially the flailing mixer-conductor. A lag in the middle notwithstanding, this is an enjoyable set, though oddly for such an unwieldy band the best moments are the simplest, namely the euphoric techno of the closing minutes, or the Tangerine Dream pomp of the opener.

Some acts tickle the intellect and some go straight for the groin, but there is music that punches directly to the gut. The implausibly named Fuck Buttons are a fantastic example of the latter, glorious to experience but hard to put across in words. They play keyboard drones stupidly loud, embellished with occasional loops and heavily treated vocals. It’s a tiny bit like a 90s Front 242 album with a chimp at the mixing desk, but mostly it’s just simple, thrilling noise. We think it’s majestic, but if you don’t like the sound of it you won’t like the…sound of it, it being nothing but engulfing, delicious, visceral sound. Got that? Right, we’re off to dance about architecture.