Tender Buttons, “Hot Abduction”, GSL, LP 12″

Two-thirds of San Diego’s KILL ME TOMORROW, the husband/wife duo of Zack and K8 Wentz present their debut full length effort pressed on color vinyl (marbled green) limited to 500 copies. The duo have been writing and performing as Tender Buttons for a few years and have released a handful of EPs. The name of the band was borrowed from a book of experimental prose/poetry by Gertrude Stein. This release is similar to the KILL ME TOMORROW “The Garbageman & The Prostitute” album in style and that both have been put into novel form by Zack. “Hot Abductions” starts with the concept that hot women are being abducted by aliens at a rapidly increasing rate, this is demonstrated in the first track from the point of view of a radio dj. The music is synthpunk, mostly electronics, percussion and voice. The voice is distinctive. They describe their sound as a “fractured, neo-industrial, polyrhythmic” concoction and also as ” a cautious cross between the Kinks and Skinny Puppy, with Kate Bush and Falco heckling us from the back of the room”. I am not sure if the average person will get that upon hearing this album but I find this release mesmerizing. Tracks A6 (an instrumental) and B6 stand out as modern homages to cabaret-esque hits of days gone by. Be Careful! there is a lot of language on this release; track A2, B1,B2, B5 & B7 all have language.