Broadcast
Issue #25
Tender Buttons (Warp)
By Amber Drea
Published: September 1st, 2005 | 2:19pm
If Broadcast's third album sounds like it's missing something, that's because it is: three band members. When drummer Steve Perkins departed in 2000, he was replaced by Keith York and later by Neil Bullock, but now there's no drummer at all. Keyboardist Roj Stevens left in 2003, and guitarist Tim Felton left the band this year.
Now, only the skeleton of a once lush and complex musical collaboration remains: vocalist Trish Keenan and producer-instrumentalist James Cargill. Layered textures, dissonant harmonic structures, rhythmically varied time signatures, and live drums served as the main attraction to Broadcast's previous recordings and performances. Without them, there's a barren simplicity that leaves one longing for the unpredictable psychedelic pop of the group's former incarnation.
However, listening to Tender Buttons with a fresh ear — free of expectation and prejudice — allows one to hear the sweet and soothing nostalgia created by the album's hypnotic synthesized beats and cyclical guitar melodies. Keenan's lyrics, delivered in her unwaveringly stoic style, convey emotion through metaphor. Songs about prostitutes and black cats are shrouded in haunting echoes, random noises, and sinister samples. The '60s continue their prominent presence in the duo's overall aesthetic, but the industrial processing and drum machine pulse recall early Cocteau Twins records, like Garlands and Head Over Heels, especially on "America's Boy," which criticizes the U.S. occupation in Iraq.
Broadcast is now a much different band than it used to be, but the change doesn't have to be seen as a regression. Instead, fans may embrace this less experimental, less obtrusive version. Play it during dinner parties; play it for your mom. Or you can find out where the other guys went. "Minus One" (from 2000's The Noise Made by People) acknowledged Perkins' departure, and "Minus Two" (from 2002's Pendulum EP) was a tribute to Stevens. At least this album doesn't have a "Minus Three."
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