– GORILLA, MANCHESTER –
Tonight Gorilla is darkly intense and chaotic, a quasi-bestial atmosphere collecting in anticipation of the sound explosion that Fuck Buttons promise to hurl. Touring their latest album Slow Focus after a near four-year hiatus, the Bristol duo recently headlined Glastonbury’s Park Stage and are on the brink of a world tour that will see them in a different country or US state almost every day until November. Wyclef wrote a song about it a while back.
From the moment Hung and Power get ready to rumble, a brutal sonic onslaught shakes and tears the audience unforgivingly like a satanic puppy with a cuddly toy. It’s incredibly heavy and industrial, the massive soundsystem pounding out the bass so loud that afterwards I hear someone say he had to step outside because his balls were vibrating too much.
The new material is coldly majestic, an atmospheric euphoria gently threaded through aggressive layers of deep bass and electro-prog rock. It’s a veritable progression from their earlier material, taking elements of both Tarot Sport and Street Horrrsing to create a sound that is bold and distinct. In their usual stance, Hung and Power duel each other across a long table laid with a technological arsenal, battling ever louder to induce a roaring metallic cacophony. There is a sense of continuity throughout the set, each fighting number bleeding into the next with no room for contemplation. We are at their mercy, and they’re not letting go until they’re done.
The crowd leaves ravaged, sexually stimulated, and largely deaf. This was an out-of-body experience, an unforgettable sensual assault that resonates corporally for hours afterwards. One wonders where their sonic experiments will go next, but one thing is certain: it’s going to be Fucking loud.
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A jack-ette of all trades (and arguably mistress of none), I’m an editor, law student, avid runner, travel fiend, wine-guzzler and above all, music lover. Originally from South Africa, I’m now a proud Mancunian. This city is awesome − the only thing I can complain about is the damn weather.
