By Frank Phosphate

Fuck Buttons | Growing (Hailey's)
Fuck Buttons, or F*ck Buttons as you might see them referred to frequently, are grabbing at the torch for the electronic shoegaze set. M83 were towing the line there for awhile for electro-gazers, but to the dismay of most (me not included), Gonzalez has taken a much more pop oriented turned with M83's recent work. There is no "Frank and Jessie" to be found on Button's latest, or would they ever be mistaken for pop music. I wasn't a fan of Street Horrsing, a little too "post-rock" for my tastes, but their latest breaches some new sonic territory that transports it out of the snooze-fest most experimental finds itself in. Tarot Sport features the same basic structure of the debut, but with a new focus coming off like Metal Machine Music by way of Pet Shop Boys. How this will translate to the live setting is any one's guess; I have a feeling that it will probably be boring. It seems that most ten minute songs magically turn into 15 minutes songs once they hit the stage. If you are on enough drugs it shouldn't matter, plus it is always fun to hear multiple people say "fuck" randomly in public. (FP)

Cool Out (The Cavern)

Crystal Antlers | The Uptown Bums | Video (Rubber Gloves)
I avoided the Crystal Antlers debut EP, because it was produced by the same guy that produced Mars Volta and I am admittedly closed-minded in that way. Since their new full-length is self-produced, something I admire in a band, not to mention reading some positive non-blog press, I finally decided to give it a go, and was surprised to find some Nugget-y prog-lite ditties. Nothing groundbreaking in their sound, but above average songwriting and clever organ riffs helps it rise above. The band seem more interested in making solid songs, as opposed to adhering to current trends. Nice! What really makes this a super great show are local openers Uptown Bums and Video, so a solid night of rawk. (FP)

An Albatross | All Leather | Big Fiction (The Lounge)