It's a damn shame that Fuck Buttons had to go and call themselves Fuck Buttons. The Bristol, UK duo of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power couldn't possibly have come up with a more juvenile moniker to scare away listeners. And what makes the name doubly offensive is that Street Horrrsing, the group's full-length debut, is one of the most compelling experimental records that the Brits have exported all year.

The six songs that make up the album blur into one very dirty and very constant drone that flutters with head-cleaning, psychedelic majesty. Overdrive, distortion and feedback are the dominant tonal palette at work here, but Hung and Power have sculpted these abrasive elements into a crisp, hypnotic masterpiece.

From the onset of opening number "Sweet Love for Planet Earth," the din and fuzz is strongly reminiscent of such '80s/ '90s noisy alternative rock torch bearers as the Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. But the genius behind Fuck Buttons' approach is the manner in which the group has stripped these influences of their rock and roll components. "Ribs Out" and "Bright Tomorrow" make use of a primitive industrial beat, and anything resembling rock structure has been removed. Melody and intentional rhythms are thrown out the window leaving only the secret, underlying hum to carry the music. This exploded view of such a typically buried sound reveals an addictive and non-traditional approach to melody and harmony… It's just too bad about that name.

Chad Radford