PSYCHIC... POWERLESS... ANOTHER MAN'S SAC
Year: 1984
Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Noise, Post-Punk, Hardcore
Label: Touch & Go Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 35 Minutes (Medium-Length)
Style: Weird/Funny
My Rating: 6/8
The Butthole Surfers are an alternative/punk-rock band from Texas. The group formed in 1981 and throughout the 1980s were notable for their extremely bizarre music and shocking stage performances. As you might know, they are one of my favorite bands ever. They are hilarious and weird as fuck, yet enjoyable for their music alone. This is their second LP, and their first release on Touch and Go Records. Also their first record with two drummers, who at this point (and throughout most of their underground phase) were King Coffey and Teresa Nervosa, who referred to eachother as twins because of their similar appearances. While "Brown Reason to Live" was pretty weird, this one is even weirder. Even further elimination of punk conventions on this record, and an extensive use of warped studio magic and fucking around with tapes.
1. Concubine
A slow, very distorted song. Consists of Gibby rambling and screaming like a maniac as lyrics. Ends with a robotic voice moaning something. Trademark Butthole Surfers sound.
2. Eye of the Chicken
This one's hilarious. It's kinda fast, and it has explosion noises, psychedelic guitar-sounds, and robotic Gibby voices rambling on about his father changing his brother's diapers and his mother throwing furniture at him, and some hilarious screaming. I swear, stuff like that is enough to make a person like me squirt milk outta his nose. Short and sweet.
3. Dum-Dum
One of the more mainstream-accessible pieces from the album. The beat reminds me of pirates for some reason... yarggh. Not sure what the lyrics are about, but they go something like "You want the people to be the people to want the people to love you, you need the people to show the facts, instead again, they shot you...", and so on.
4. Woly Boly
This song's name is a play on the name of the popular 1950s rock & roll song, "Wooly Bully". Similar tempo to "Dum-Dum". Gibby sings really fast and incoherently, ranging from actual singing to screaming to singing like he's flailing his arms about n' stuff like some sort of LSD redneck.
5. Negro Observer
Cleaner guitar sounds than most of the songs here. There's the old saxophone in this one... the combination sounds awesome. The lyrics are about a group of aliens who are very big and strong and appear in parking lots, deserted discount stores, low-riders, and singles bars to abduct black people and observe them for unknown purposes. Gibby laughs like a madman.
6. Butthole Surfer
Supposedly the song that was the reason for their name (all by accident, reportedly). It's the most traditional-sounding song on here. Very fun and catchy riff. It's basically about butts and butthole surfers. What else? In the background of the chorus, Paul Leary can be heard shouting "Butthole Surfer, Suck My Dick!". At the end, it sounds like it's going to end... and then... a very fast finale suddenly happens... now it's over -- NOT! The whole fake-ending thing happens about three fucking times. End o' Side 1.
7. Lady Sniff
Another slow, fucked-up noizy song. Gibby sings in a low-pitched sounding voice that sounds a bit like Cookie Monster. The interludes to each verse are punctuated by random humorous sound-clips.
8. Cherub
A slow, spooky song with gothic-sounding lyrics. A bit repetitive for my tastes, but it doesn't suck at all or anything. They made a music video for this song.
9. Mexican Caravan
Favorite song on the album. It's a fast song about sneaking to Mexico to buy heroin. Both Gibby and Paul express their love of Mexico and eagerness to get there. Gibby sings the first two verses, each separated by a unique, sloppy noise-solo. It really takes off when Paul Leary sings the final two verses, though. Gibby just kinda sings, but Paul shrieks them like a fuckin' drunk eagle. It's great, really.
10. Cowboy Bob
An earlier version of this was on "Live PCPPEP". More saxophone. Both the old and this version have their own good points. Gibby's voice is run through either a synthesizer or a toilet-paper roll tube, here. Really badass riff. Paul can be heard screamin' a little, too.
11. Gary Floyd
Paul Leary sings this one, in a non-screaming voice for once (Gibby provides background vocals). Another country-punk sounding song like "Wichita Cathedral" before it. Very up-beat. But, after the song ends, then the album ends. No hidden tracks for you, sir.
This was the last album where Paul Leary got to sing a lot. After that, it was pretty much just Gibby singing. Here, there are still elements of traditional punk, but they definitely were getting weirder as the albums went by. Still, it's not quite as weird as "Rembrandt Pussyhorse" and "Locust Abortion Technician", which followed it. In a way, I guess you could use this record to introduce a potential fan to the band. Enough "normal" stuff and weird stuff to let you know what to expect. Or you could just listen to the first record, like I did. Whatever the case, this is another great installment into the Butthole Surfers library.
MUSIC VIDEO FOR "CHERUB"
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