Concert Reviews
Tender Buttons
TENDER BUTTONS @ LOW END THEORY
LA Record
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 5, 2007:
With his handlebar mustache curling up at the ends, Zack Wentz from Tender Buttons wailed out low tones into a vintage microphone, while reverse skunk-haired Kate Wince triggered the galloping beats and early ’90s industrial rhythms that dominated their Wednesday set at the Low End Theory. As a side project of Wentz and Wince’s San Diego-based atmospheric experimental-rock trio Kill Me Tomorrow, Tender Buttons displays their theatrical alter-ego. Bathing the stage with only a few lights, Wentz channeled Big Time-era Tom Waits while swinging his hair over his eyes and writhing around more like a performance artist than rock star. They played songs off their new release Hottest Abduction and even laid out a mutated version of Ary Barroso’s swinging 1939 samba “Brazil.” These juxtapositions of old-timey allusions with Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR-esque digital experiments made an interesting listen, especially complimented by the sparse stage show. While Tender Buttons delivered spectacle, DJ and producer (and last week’s L.A. RECORD cover) Thavius Beck, who preceded them, was the night’s true hero, rolling out his drum-machine-du-jour hip hop. MC Nocando layered lyrical flow over the beats, but chose to stay out of sight most of the time. His syncopated rhymes locked with Thavius Beck’s manipulations so seamlessly that it was impossible to separate the man from the machine, or even the live from the track.
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