They were the unexpected name on last summer’s Olympic opening ceremony soundtrack, but there were no dancing horses or coxless fours when F*** Buttons pulled into Brighton.
Instead, the electronic duo of Andrew Hung and John Power brought with them the sort of pulsating electronic drones that were as primal as they were mesmerizing.
There was little in the way of visual spectacle to engage their audience, other than their digitally enhanced silhouettes beamed on to two screens behind them as they hunched over their collection of gadgets. But that isn’t really the point of F*** Buttons. Anyone who wanted that should have booked tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil.
What F*** Buttons did from the off was create a dense wall of electronic music that was so thick and heavy you could almost feel it compressing your ear drums. They hinted as much at Aphex Twin as they did the wooziness of My Bloody Valentine, but they took those inspirations and fused them to create their own sound.
Brainfreeze and The Red Wing from new record Slow Focus took their knack for hypnotic electro and beefed it up, but album closer Hidden XS proved an equally brilliant and deafening ending to their live set that left ears ringing.
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