HEALTH/Buttonhead

Last night, I was fortunate enough to be invited as a guest of No Pain In Pop to see LA noisemakers HEALTH, and bonkers London quintet Buttonhead.

Basically, I just wanted to rave about these bands a bit. HEALTH have become one of 2008's most significant acts, between bringing noise to the hipsters to metal-wary to fall for Boris, and collaborating and touring with Crystal Castles. Their set was a ferocious battery, breathless but meticulous in its execution, delivering two-minute traumas with monstrous percussion and heavily distorted guitars.

Buttonhead are gleefully deranged and possibly the best new band in the UK. From gibberish falsetto choruses to prog-punk muscle-flexing, via drummer Valencia's gurning and the occasional recorder, Buttonhead are a kitchen-sink kinda band, and they're one of the most engaging, endearing things to come out of London in a long while. I would like the whole world to hear them and give them the adulation and adoration they so richly deserve.

Boys in the Ball Pool - Buttonhead
Lost Time - HEALTH