Are this duo determined to scare people shitless? As the final beats came to an end, a grateful yet cautious crowd start to plod out of the infamous Rough Trade East, of the vast majority probing in their ears in an attempt to get back their much loved ability to hear, a feat Kevin Shields himself would be proud of. I don’t mean to grate on about the volume, but those relatively small speakers packed a mighty punch – or, more specifically, Fuck Buttons packed enough of a punch to blow one of the speakers and make an entire section of the audience look around in panic and prod their ears, just to check. Formed in 2004, Andrew Hung and Ben Power have been bemusing their audiences with their spiralling sonic collages and heavy hitting percussive hammerings under the monkier Fuck Buttons, and to celebrate their second single, Colours Move, off their debut album, Street Horrrsing, the duo played arguably their most prestegious (although not largest) gig before setting off on tour with post-rock legends Mogwai.

And rather fittingly, prehaps, that it should be held in this tiny 300 capacity shop down an alley at the end of Brick Lane, London – this group are certainly destined to be a live force to be reckoned with, and based on the strength of this show, will surely only become more popular as they play to thousands across the US and UK supporting Mogwai. As one last bang before the inevitable popularity rocket, if you will, and bang they certainly did. As they take the stage, however, this is not an outcome which is immediately expected – armed to the teeth with pedals, dials and sliders, complete with the juxtaposing innocence of a pre-school voice recorder and game boy, they briskly ease in the crowd with album opener Sweet Love For Planet Earth – those who have listened to the album (and for those who haven’t, go do so now) instantly recognise the sweet yet chaotic chirps, a facade for what follows. The opening is reminicent of an Animal Collective gig, at least on the aural level, and prehaps the clothing sense the group have, yet by the time the keyboards roar into life, all these preconceptions are blasted away.

The hour that followed was an examplar way to perform experimental and downright noisy music – Ribs Out, the second song of the set, was particuarly energetic not only through the use of live tribal-esque, truly head-splitting, apocalyptic drumming on a Tom drum, but Andrew Hung’s ’stage’ presence – jumping down from the makeshift crowd, seemingly entraced by the music they were creating, yet also never seeming like the presence was forced. And while a couple of other songs featured similar tribal drumming, the duo showed that they ain’t no one trick pony through dropping some dance beats into the mix, such as in Bright Tomorrow. Admittedly, it wasn’t enough to stir the monday evening crowd into a frenzy, but it’s refreshing to see a group of this nature not relying on looping similar samples through songs in order to seem more experimental – Fuck Buttons kept their set interesting yet never letting the noise relent. Seriously, no gaps between songs, no rest until the very end of the set.

Race To Your Bedroom/Spirit Rise was, however, a whole new ball game; reminicent of noise gods such as Merzbow and My Bloody Valentine, a ten minute portion of noise was added to the mix after Ribs Out, a peculiar choice, yet it sequed well. Having gone to the My Bloody Valentine reunion shows earlier this year, I saw similar scenes of smug head-bobbing by those endowed with the common sense to bring earplugs, and the ol’ finger-in-the-ears routine by a few close to the speakers. An experience it certainly was, and while of course it’s not really comparable to the carnage which is the MBV noise section, I found myself drawing parallels. Fuck Buttons provided tonight with a healthy mix of old(ish) and new songs, loud and really-fucking-loud, and rhythmic and noisy. With this, there’s no real way they can continue on this form and not gain popularity on the forthcoming Mogwai tour… here’s to the future.