Arriving around 8pm I was able to catch the latter half of the support band, the Factory Floor. In a prelude to things to come the stage looked like an extension of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, with vintage analogue equipment all over the place. Recalling Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire or possibly Throbbing Gristle (ask your gran), so in good company, this lot had some discordant sounds, a good build-up and then some completely mental moments as the live drummer came in and “did an animal” (ask the Muppets) over the electronics while the sylph-like guitar player prodded her instrument with various hands, fists and sticks, giving a veritable cacophony of sound – pretty extreme indeed and a pretty promising act.
And so, the main event. I must admit that Betty has been fairly obsessed with this combo (the Fret Buttons) since hearing a track on one of those downmarket publications’ free CDs (‘fess up, it was Uncut, how uncool) and purchased Tarot Sport, their second epic long player. So I had high expectations, higher than the roof at the Arches, which I was a bit worried about in terms on the expected onslaught of sound. Still, the Factory Floor sound had been pretty good.
Taking the stage, the Flip Buttons are two guys with machines, mainly pretty old ones, none of your “Apple laptop controls the music” scenarios here. Some of the machines are actually still in a vintage suitcase, some of them are on a desk and some actual instruments are used as well as the analogue equipment, some real drums once or twice and some live yelping voices, courtesy of the guys (of which more later).
Now pop pickers: we have all been through the synth duo years (Soft Cell, PSB, OMD, Tears for Fears, ok stop…) and the superstar DJ years: Orbital, Basement Jaxx, the Chemicals, two guys bobbing around behind the desks, dancing a bit, sharing in-jokes, and perhaps it has run its course, there were some good records though. Anyway, these guys do the same thing but with no samples and a degree of commitment that is quite literally bone-shaking. Not since MBV at the Barras have I been so deafened, but in a good way, no real pain and unintended discordancy, just a really loud burst of electronica. The yelping amplified voice on one track (count me in, anoraks but I can’t recall the name, they certainly were not telling as nothing was said until the end) was at first sweet and then downright scary in that it distorted intensity, not too far from a horror soundtrack, an area where the Foot Buttons and indeed their support act could clean up.
Featuring tracks pretty much all from Tarot Sport, they played for well over an hour solidly, the music a combination of ecstasy (not literally, metaphorically) and sheer driving brutality, the music upping tempo from time to time via some industrial strength beats, disembodied voices and other “found sounds” oscillating around Arches One in stereo chorus effect, right to the back… perfectly – to be fair to the acoustics of the venue and the soundmix, well done guys.
The sound was ravey, proggy (sequences progressed up and then down for minutes at a time) and pretty unique, with a couple of Floyd-esque and even Tangerine Dream (ask your grandpa) moments in the more restrained periods, at times recalling the most original moments of Underworld and The Orb. This lot do however have entirely their own sound, with massive rave potential but also a raw undertow of sheer noise and feedback, an astonishing combination from a band still on their second album. Many tracks are simple chord progressions mixed with arpeggios and effects but it’s the sheer full-on commitment and abandon with which it is executed which made this, to date, Betty’s gig of the year so far, at least for now.
At times it was hard to cope with the onslaught and it’s the first time I’ve seen Arches bar staff wearing earplugs when the gig was actually in the arch next door. Around 10.10pm the set closed and due to the 10pm curfew an encore looked unlikely on paper, but the audience reaction demanded it and the guys did one more track, more an outro then a screamer, otherwise we’d have been there all night, quite seriously, some hardened ravers were having flashbacks…
However, we were over by 10,15 and out into the night, Betty definitely needed some time on her back to calm down after that one. Respect due to the Flub Buttons, they slayed us tonight – the Slam Tent at T in the Park would be the ideal destination for them now…