Review #204: Hatred Surge - Isolated Human 7" (2009)

ISOLATED HUMAN (EP)

Year: 2009
Genre: Hardcore Punk/Grindcore
Label: Painkiller Records
Tracks: 6
Length: 5 Minutes
My Rating: 6/8

Hatred Surge is a grindcore/"powerviolence" (which apparently means hardcore punk played even faster than normal), and the group is from Austin Texas, and they've put out a lot of records before this one so I'm guessing they probably started around 2003 or '04. The band is made up of Alex, the bassist/vocalist 1, Chris, the guitarist, Mike "The Trike", the drummer, and Rahi, the vocalist 2. There are two singers for the band. That's one thing that I thought was RAEEALY cool. Alex has a beard and does the whole bulldog-in-a-blender-sounding grindcore vocals. Rahi sounds like Lydia Lunch and she's really fucking hot (really hot)! Like, the two singers will sing different parts in the same song. It sounds awesome. The band's name comes from the title of a Napalm Death demo tape. A lot of the band's releases before this are out-of-print, which sucks ass. Oh, wait, so is this one! Shit. Well, I ILLAEEEAAGULLY DOWNLOADED IT if that's okay, but there would be a higher chance of me actually buying it if it weresn't outta print already, man! Anyways, the EP starts off with the sounds of strong static fuzz before the first song starts, so let's keep listening until the first song starts... then we'll listen to it even MORE!!!!!!!

1. Black Box
Kind of slow compared to the other songs. But it's actually the best one. The riff is great-sounding, there's alternating sung lines between Alex and Rahi which adds another sort of organized chaos to the mix of sound, the guitar sound is real heavy. The chorus section is extremely awesome and brutal-sounding. I LOVE this song!! It's all about death and how you can't escape from death and stuff... yep, wee're all gunna die, kidz. But this song really doez rock.

2. Hell and Back
Starts out slow and then it gets really really fast for a few seconds. Then there's a slow part with just drums and yelling and then one more ultra-thrash moment.

3. Isolated Human
Fast, but in more of a hardcore-punk way... then there's some slow parts and very fast parts. The lyrics are real claustrophobic-sounding. End of Side A.

4. Monster
REALLY FAST! A cool guitar sound is made in one part towards the beginning. One part is only half as speedy as the rest. The guitars continue to sound loud as ever. In one part they play a riff that sounds JUST like the opening riff for "Oven" by the Melvins.

5. Fatalist
Really really fast verse part with Alex singing and the chorus is fast but not as fast with Rahi singing "ONLY DEATH IS CERTAIN!". The song's about how nothing in life is as real as death because death is the only thing that truly lasts forever.

6. Gaining Momentum
Alternates between really fast parts and really slow parts. More great vocals, cool riffs, dark lyrics, etc. Then the record outro sounds similar to the intro... weird fuzzed-out noises. Maybe it actually sounds like something else when you speed it up a ton.

You'll probably either love or hate this EP, depending on how you feel about really really fast/extreme music with ridiculously harsh vocals. I like it, though. Mainly for the opening song, "Black Box". That's just a really great song. The other songs are good also, but not quite to the level of the first tune. This is really the only Hatred Surge record I've listened to in its entirety. They have a ton of other EPs and singles and they have an album, also. Maybe you'll hear more about them from me in the future. Like how great-looking Rahi is. It'd be cool if she punched me in the face a bunch of times. But it's really really snowy outside. So I guess I'm an "ISOLATED HUMAN" right now, huh, huh??

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Black Box
2. Monster
3. Isolated Human

Review #179: 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (1966)

THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS OF THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS

Year: 1966
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Label: International Artists Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 35 Minutes
Style: Emotional/Weird
My Rating: 7/8

The 13th Floor Elevators were an awesome psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 by Roky Erickson in Texas, and this iz their first album! And it's very cool, all of this music is great, especially for Roky being only 19 years old and it being so old. That and it's pretty good. I mean, geez, they've even got someone playing an ELECTRIC JUG. A JUG... that is a container used to hold liquid, correct? Why would you even bother making it electric, and WHY would you? So you could make awesome sounds for the 13TH FLOOR ELEVATRES, that iz why! Maybe it was filled with a MAAAGICAL kind of alcohol that made funny noises when you bubbled it up. Well, you'll hear plenty of that in this album, but the songs themselves are real great as well, so what the hell am I doing still talking about magic furniture (note: the author of this article does not actually believe a jug to fit the qualifications necessary for it to be considered a piece of furniture and opinions expressed by the author this article may not be endorsed by the author of this article) and let's CUT TO THE CHASE!

1. You're Gonna Miss Me
One of the coolest songs ever! Reminds me of a hot summer night listening to this song with not much to do, but God, this song is so fun to listen to! The riff is great and sounds very good, and the rough screamin' vocals and the weird little jug sounds give it all a distinct, otherworldly but friendly atmosphere and I need to listen to this while being high on something to totally enjoy its flavor, I feel. But yeah, this is one of the coolest songs ever and it's the first song I heard by the band and the only one that got sorta famous, they say. Man, how the hell could they have locked Roky up after listening to THIS? Well, it's a real euphoric feeling song. Cool harmonica solo, also. Roky wrote it for a previous band when he was only 16!

2. Roller Coaster
This one's a little more depressing and slow. A lot more bass. The chorus part is cool, and that giggling jug just keeps on at it. The song speeds up after the first chorus and I thought that was pretty cool. It's like a hangover in the beginning but then it gets better. It encourages people to try acid because it will open up your mind and allow you to see things from a wider point of view. Cool guitar solo at the end.

3. Splash 1 (Now I'm Home)
Awesome guitar sound. The chorus that goes "now I'm home..." sounds absolutely beautiful. The whole melody does, really.

4. Reverbation (Doubt)
This one's a little more upbeat. Reminds me of punk rock a little bit. Roky sings, and the backing vocalist sings in a falsetto voice. The riff is real tough and fiery sounding. It's like taking off in your car/motorcycle or whatever and riding off into a giant horizon of fiery rocks. Man, Roky really can sing! The sound at the very end reminds me of a very annoying fly...

5. Don't Fall Down
DON'T FALL DOWN... that's the repeated the chorus line, as Roky sings the lyrics corresponding to this line. I really love the guitar melody here, and the nice happy jug and yeah, it's all fucking awesome! I'm not sure if the woman being referred to in this song is a drug metaphor or an actual girl (maybe you are both on drugs together, ohohoho).

6. Fire Engine
The song kicks off with the sounds of fire engine! The riff is awesome and everything's just melting and bubbling around all at once, but it all works together to sound real good. "AYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAAUGHHH" - something that Roky Erickson totally said in this song.

7. Thru the Rhythm
Another totally great tune from this album. This song once again encourages the search for absolute truth and for people to commit "knowledge crimes" against the oppressor and the hall of mirrors and illusions elaborately painted throughout the walls of the world. Musically, the riff is great, all of the guitar playing is so awesome, the beat is cool, the bass guitar cannot be neglected, and the jug spices things up too. It feels real relaxing but it has this energy to it at the same time. Do whatever you want to this music, man. Total freedom?

8. You Don't Know (How Young You Are)
I like this one a lot. It's another love-problems type of song like "You're Gonna Miss Me", but in a little more of a down-to-earth way. The guitar melody is so beautiful -- hell, the whole song is, but that definitely is a huge part of it. You can hear a little bit of acoustic guitar played alongside the electric ones as well. The song changes to a different part around the end.

9. Kingdom of Heaven
A bit of a scarier, more ominous-sounding song. It's pretty slow too. The bass riff just throbs and pounds like that, but then climbs upwards briefly periodically.

10. Monkey Island
MONKEY ISLAND! WHERE ALL OF THE MONKEYS LIVE! This song is really happy-sounding, and the jug here somewhat sounds like a monkey here. Which is funny. Monkeys are funny. They eat bananas and throw coconuts at people and they live in trees. However, monkeys are unable to see Roky. They just believe he's there. Roky Erickson is the figment of a monkey's imagination... which reminds me of this one time when I was about 8 years old where I had a dream that I was alive and then it turned out that reality was all just a dream had by a monkey. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

11. Tried to Hide
Wookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawooka. The lead guitar is kinda cool. Cling-a-cling. The song's good, but it's a bit overshadowed by the other songs on the LP.

Well, man, that was puh-sykadelick. Too bad I was sober the whole time! Maybe a sugar rush here and there, but I doubt that even happened... does my Tootsie Pop I'm having right nauw count? GOD ONLY KNOWS. THAT THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS HAD PUT OUT A GOOD ALBUM IN THE YEAR OF 1966, AND YESSIR, YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS YOU BIG BUTTHOLE. MEANING THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVE A BIG BUTTHOLE. LIKE COWS. THEY HAVE PRETTY FUCKING HUGE BUTTHOLES. AND GUESS WHAT ELSE? THERE WAS A COW ON THE BAND'S FINAL ALBUM COVER AND THAT COW WENT ON TO FORM A BAND KNOWN AS THE COWS AND KEVIN RUTMANIS WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE IN THAT BAND AND THEN HE WOULD GO ON TO JOIN THE MELVINS AND HOLY SHIT REALITY IS CAVING IN ON ITSELF, OHGOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I guess that's the price you have to pay for the ultimate LSD-induced knowledge trip. If pretending you know something is mental masturbation, then actually knowing something must be getting laid mentally... it'd be like, you're looking at a girl/guy and you just keep on looking at eachother, knowing that there's totally something goin' on that others can't see, and neither can you, but MAN, YOU CAN FUCKING FEEL IT. It's that look. It's like the eyes are kissing. The irises would be like the lips, and the pupils would be like the actual mouth... and if you go far enough down, you'd find out that the eyes go back into the head and into the brain, which is the STOMACH of the head, and your EYES intake the knowledge through the PUPILS, which is the MOUTH of the head... wait, what?

So, 13th Floor Elevators? Two thumbs up. Listen to this album. It is cool. Like cats. Cats are cool. I'll bet a lot of cats have listened to this album. And they loved it. Because they're soft and fuzzy and cute and they're mean. Which is funny. Cats are funny. They have little tails, also. So do dogs. A lot of animals have tails, really. A baby bird without feathers vaguely resembles a lizard, I've also found. Hell, a baby robin even looks a bit like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (without the mask or opposable thumbs), and THAT'S a hell of a stretch, but I know you're willing to make the leap bekuz YOU'VE GOT THE POWAH. And that's what this iz all about. POWAH. POWAH TO THE PEOPLE. POWAH IN YOUR MIND, which is something this album seems to promise, but I just wanted to know if it was okay if Little Jimmy got a boner while reading about facesitting. Okay?

Top 3 Favorites:
1. You're Gonna Miss Me
2. You Don't Know (How Young You Are)
3. Thru the Rhythm

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME":

Review #144: Cop Warmth - Centaur Cop Top (EP) (2008)

CENTAUR COP TOP (EP)

Year: 2008

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Noise
Label: Disaro Records
Tracks: 3
Length: 3 Minutes
Style: Angry
My Rating: 6/8

Cop Warmth is a band from Houston, Texas. The group formed circa 2006 and they have released a demo tape and one 7" vinyl EP with three sawngs on it. The line-up consists of Craig (guitar), Nathan (bass guitar and drums), Dan (other guitar), and Marky G (bass guitar and drums). Yeah, the band doesn't have a huge-ass history as far as I'm aware (unless they'd like to tell me otherwise), so let's get right to this...

1. Anksciyeti
What? Angsty yeti? The closest word I was able to find was "anksiyete", but I have not yet discovered the meaning of the word. I shall update this later. Extremely noisy in the beginning, almost like Teenage Jesus & the Jerks/no-wave sort of thing. Complex lead-guitar melodies in the verse sections, and a crashing beat like some blows (not the good kind) to the face. Extremely noisy, with the guitar, and vocals are mixed pretty distorted (a common trend in modern punk). The bridge section is pretty awesome and deep-sounding. Then the ending part of the song just features the band screaming "ANK-SCI-YE-TI" over a shrieking guitar and drum pound before pausing and repeating. Very unique-sounding.

2. Dancing is My Bad
Not very long. This song has a more straight-forward beat. But there is still a lot of neat lead-guitar super-abrasive stuff going on. The bass melody iz nice, though.

3. Jamz Allen
It's JAMZ ALLEN, the secret brother of GG ALLIN! They repeat the name of some guy named "James Allen". Fast, abrasive, reeks of breaking glass. I'm pretty sure they're singing in spanish in the later part of the song.

So, if you're able to, give this record a spin. The real stand-out track here without a doubt is "Anksciyeti" (the first song), but the other two songs are decent. The band's music conveys noise-punk anarchy over hardcore beats and lyrics, and it works well. What may initially sound like a very unskilled band making noise is really some well thought-out shredding combined to sound, well, insane! You can listen to the contents of this 7" if you follow the link I supply below:

http://www.last.fm/music/Cop+Warmth/Centar+Cop+Top+E.P.

Bye. Stay tuned for the next review tomorrow!

Review #131: Reproach/A.N.S. Split (EP) (2008)

REPROACH/A.N.S. SPLIT EP

Year: 2008

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Thrash
Label: Still Holding On Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 11 Minutes
Style: Angry/Wild
My Rating: 6/8

Obviously, this is a split EP between Reproach and A.N.S. And it's a 7" vinyl. Wax. Know what I'm sayin'? I think you do. Both bands are hardcore punk groups with heavy metal influences and a love for skateboarding. A.N.S. formed in 1999 in Texas (U.S.A.), and Reproach formed in 2000 in Belgium. There are eight Reproach songs (all extremely fast and short) and three A.N.S. songs (slightly less fast and short).

1. Reproach - "You Deserve It"
Loud, angry vocals. The second half of the song is ultra-fast.

2. Reproach - "Skateboarding Saves"
Slow intro with an awesome metal-ish riff. Extreme blast-beats thrash about in the second part of the song. There's backing vocals, also.

3. Reproach - "The Fallout"
The first part is slow. The second part is extremely fast. The third part is slow.

4. Reproach - "Onward to Destruction"
Very fast parts and kinda fast parts. Really growly backing vocals. Durrrrhhh!

5. Reproach - "L.A.P.D. Can Suck It"
Shortest song on the 7"! Sweet Seventeen seconds long. Lightspeed mega-thrash beats and awesome slower bits inbetween.

6. Reproach - "Kicked in the Teeth"
Yet another fast song. Not much else I can think of to say that makes this track stand out.

7. Reproach - "Family Shooting"
FUCK! SFLDFLKJSGFJKLFDG;'LLDFG;FLDG;LFDLGD;LGD;FLGFD

8. Reproach - "Fuck Us All"
This song's about a person who probably wants the listener to fuck ALL OF US. EVERY ONE OF US. YEAH. GOOD GOIN', BUDDY. Anyways, that's the end of the Reproach side of the record.

9. A.N.S. - "Kooks Go Home"
Now for something fast, but with slightly more emphasis on musicality than speed. The first half of the song is instrumental. Slow, very cool, sort of ominous, and I like it. Midway through the song, things speed up, and the vocalist starts singing, sounding like a cross between Henry Rollins and the guy from J.F.A. A head-pumping beat, and excellent riffage. Even a few mini-solos in the background. The song changes again towards the end of the song to get even faster, and then, believe it or not, it continually gets speedier and speedier until we're at speeds rivaling the eight tracks before this song. But then things cool down and the song slows down. This is the longest song on the EP. And probably the best, also.

10. A.N.S. - "Locals Only"
I wonder if it's named after the J.F.A. EP of the same name... anyways, it starts off with a slow intro until the vocalist screams "LOCALS ONLY!!". Pretty much a typical hardcore song. A little mini solo here and there.

11. A.N.S. - "Dawn Patrol"
An instrumental track. Begins with the sounds of sea gulls and waves at the beach. And with that said, this song has a bit of a surf-y guitar sound to it. It's fast, too! In one part it gets extremely fast. But yeah, no singing here, so you can just enjoy the krazy franticity of the whole thing. There's a short heavy metal-type solo in one part. But yes, that iz the end.

"Kooks Go Home" is definitely the stand-out track, here. I personally prefer the A.N.S. songs over the Reproach songs -- they're excitingly fast, but eventually it gets quite same-y and grating. The best track of that side of the EP is probably "The L.A.P.D. Can Suck It". What you like best from this little 7", that'll be up for you to decide if you have listened to it. But if you want to listen to some extremely fast music today, go listen to this or something. Until next time!

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Kooks Go Home (A.N.S.)
2. Dawn Patrol (A.N.S.)
3. The L.A.P.D. Can Suck It (Reproach)

Review #130: MDC - Millions of Dead Cops (1982)

MILLIONS OF DEAD COPS

Year: 1982

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Rhythm Vicar Records
Tracks: 14
Length: 20 Minutes
Style: Political/Angry
My Rating: 6/8

MDC is a hardcore punk band from Austin, Texas, originally formed in 1979. The band's first release was a 7" single featuring a song of their called "John Wayne Was a Nazi". The band is notable for having a far-left position on politics, performing extremely fast music, and being one the notable hardcore punk bands to last into the 1990s without breaking up inbetween. Two years after "John Wayne Was a Nazi" was released, the band released their first LP, and it's called "Millions of Dead Cops". One might assume this was a self-titled album, but the band frequently changed around what their initials stood for, so it's hard to tell.

1. Business on Parade
Loud, very fast, and messy! The song is critical of the capitalist system in the U.S.A., where big businesses are unfortunately in the driver's seat and forcing the populace to buy their half-baked crap while keeping the class gap high. I'm not entirely closed to the concept of capitalism, but with the never-full bellies of the rich who seem to never have enough money to shove up their asses, it's yet another system which simply cannot work in this world. I like the drumming and vocals in the melt-down parts.

2. Dead Cops/America's So Straight
A two-in-one song, done in an interesting way. "Dead Cops" is a hyper-speed piece calling for the death of racist macho piggies everywhere! Sandwiched inbetween the two halves of "Dead Cops" is a slightly slower piece called "America's So Straight", describing the plight of a gay man in socially conservative America. After that ends, the song returns to the final verses and choruses of "Dead Cops".

3. Born to Die
This song contains the infamous chant, "No War, No KKK, No Fascist U.S.A.". The lyrics describe the empty lives of many people in the U.S.A. who feel backed into a corner by the government and society, feeling "born to die" and trapped in a cage to be slowly tortured for the sick pleasures of the people in power for as long as life goes on. This song is very fast.

4. Corporate Deathburger
The first song I ever heard from MDC. And I don't feel a single bit of hypocrisy in listening to this song because I haven't eaten anything from a McDonald's restaurant (if you wanna call it that) since I was 9 years old... eight years so far! But yeah, this song pretty much pisses on the fucked-up system known as McDonald's and really the vast majority of big corporate fast-food franchises for filling the American people with toxins, draining 3rd-world countries of resources, multinationalism, and the general basis on the trade being making money off of death itself. Very fast, great riff. One of the best songs on here.

5. Violent Rednecks
We've got plenty of these types of fucks where I live. A bunch of meat-headed, trigger-happy, ultra-conservative assholes who are just waiting for the day when it's legal to shoot anybody who looks at you funny. In the punk scene (especially the Texas scene that MDC is from), violent rednecks would go to shows just to beat up punk rockers. In the song, another redneck wants to rape a punk girl, but the band threatens to "ram a longneck up his butt". Very fast for the most part, and even faster at the end! One of the shortest songs on the album.

6. I Remember
The song begins with an intense, passionate anti-police rant, telling citizens to stand up against the police. The main part of the song is speedy but not too speedy. Nice riff. The song tells a first-person outlaw story about a person who's constantly on the run from the authorities, first escaping the country to avoid having to pay money to some government rapists, and he doesn't know if he'll ever find a safe place in the world. A lot of good insightful poetry here -- "They call this the land of the living, but they're trying to make a dead man out of me", "I remember all the stories I heard about how a man's supposed to be as free as a bird; my brother's in prison, my father's dead; me, I'm tired of living with a price on my head."

7. John Wayne Was a Nazi
The song starts out kinda slow and gets progressively faster. The song detests the famous cowboy actor, John Wayne as a symbol of violent white christian male supremacy, glorifying those who slaughtered and raped the Injuns, forcing them to conform to white values or die. Even though Dave criticizes John Wayne for hating "fags", rumor has it that John Wayne was a closet homosexual himself -- but aren't most queer-bashers that way, anyways? End of Side Uno.

8. Dick for Brains
I'm not completely sure what it's about -- whether it's a song about a man who feels persecuted by a controlling, cruel female lover who has "dick for brains" instead of a "clit for brains", or the theory that male-supremacists are secretly afraid of the idea of women in power. The beginning of the song is slow, but for the most part it's extremely speedy. Complete with a reference to the "golden shower".

9. I Hate Work
I personally think work is a necessary part of human life, but I do agree that the system really does over-work its people. And if you don't keep up with the super-tight demands of the system, you get punished. THAT fucking sucks. But yeah, I agree with most of the sentiments of the song -- working 9-to-5, fighting wars for the system (why doesn't the PRESIDENT just go fucking fight them?), and work low-wage jobs just to get by. I've seen so many kids go off to join the military just because there aren't really many other opportunities for my generation, and the government is taking advantage of this by bribing them with college and a job and stuff like that -- if they MAKE IT OUT ALIVE, that is! Not to mention the constant mental conditioning in our younger years that really annoyed me, making joining the military and killing look cool through video games (the most famous video games right now are mostly military-themed), and violent macho action movies (some of them are even really racist), revving up kids to look to partaking in war as a "correct" decision to make when they get old enough. Fuck that. Fight your own damn war.

10. My Family is a Little Weird
This song describes the life of a kid who grows up with gay parents, gender identity issues, and mentally crazy relatives! "Grandma sells dope to the high school kids" -- hee hee!

11. Greedy & Pathetic
This song is very fast and speaks up against the rich who manipulate the costs of everything to fit their selfish desires. However, many people in the underclasses see through their lies and deception. That's what this song is mainly about. Was that last statement redundant or what? Was that one, too?

12. Church & State
Once again, MDC taking on an issue that is still very relevant after almost 30 years! Especially after what just happened in Texas with the local schools revamping their curriculum to be suited to a far-right slant. But it happens all over the country, especially in rural areas. Obey the Christian faith only, go to war, fight for your land (what?), etc. Basically the false "patriotic" ethic that kinda contradicts the whole freedom thing that these very people claim to espouse. Shortest song on the album.

13. Kill the Light
Ultra fast! I dunno how they all keep up with eachother! It's crazy. This song is sung from the viewpoint of the system, leeching off of the common man to stay alive in its demonic existence, forcing people to live "half in their graves", in the sick society of cancer, puke, piss, hate, fear, poison, and confusion.

14. American Acheivements
There's a lot of gray shit in this song. Similar riff to "Corporate Deathburger". The song is about feeling entrapped by the system within the gray world that the still-unseen master figure has built up for us all to slave through. This song is very unique-sounding, plenty of minute solos and rhythm shifts -- those things work well in hardcore. The last line reminds the listener that "there's no god in heaven, so get off your knees."

The main theme of the album is the feeling from the poor and middle class that they are being pretty much fucked around by the rich in every way, living their lives in fear and desperation, being mercilessly manipulated, be it through money, health, or the mind -- being kept to stay down low "like they deserve it". Anyways, if everyone was liberated there WOULD be no power, RIGHT? Anyways, the hardcore punk style here is very fast, and if that doesn't entertain you, you should at least be able to appreciate its very relevant and intelligent lyrics. It stimulates the brain. But yeah, it's a pretty good album. DSDSFGDFGDFGDF

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Corporate Deathburger
2. Business on Parade
3. Violent Rednecks

Review #89: Butthole Surfers - Cream Corn From the Socket of Davis (EP) (1985)

CREAM CORN FROM THE SOCKET OF DAVIS (EP)

Year: 1985

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Post-Punk, Hardcore
Label: Touch & Go Records
Tracks: 4
Length: 16 Minutes (Short)
Style: Weird/Funny
My Rating: 6/8

This is the fourth Butthole Surfers to be released. It's one of the more under-rated releases in their catalog, and it's a 12" EP with four songs on it. It's pretty similar in style to "Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac", the record that came out almost a year before it -- a deranged mish-mash of backwoodsy psychedelic-punk-weirdo-rock.

1. Moving Down to Florida
The song is two parts interspliced into different parts that swing back and forth between eachother, rather than playing the vocals and instruments simultaneously. The spoken parts are narrated by a hilariously creepy hillbilly, discussing his plans to move to Florida as well as various outrageous conspiracy theories he's heard about everything from Lyndon B. Johnson to gigantic radioactive tadpoles... all in Florida! The musical parts are rockabilly-style repetitive beats, with the occasional big-guitar-solo. In the end, the vocals are spoken alongside the instruments, in a more traditional song style.

2. Comb
Starts off with some ominous noizy droning, and the sounds of Gibby vomiting. After about a half-minute, the signature Butthole Surfer-sludge tempo kicks in, with abrasive, atonal guitar riffs, and Gibbytronix-produced unintelligble distorted moans, groans, screams, and yells. The song ends with a similar setup to how it began. A brief really funny-sounding noize is heard. That's the end of Side 1...

3. To Parter
As the title suggests (sort of), it's a two-part song. The first half is a repetitive No-Wave-y lead-driven instrumental piece -- reminds me a lot of early Sonic Youth. The second half is more melodic, as Gibby sings about a group of white men who sold qualudes to some monkeys, who all got addicted to them and "died up in the trees". The song goes on to criticize the teachers of the world, comparing us human beings to the aforementioned qualude monkeys. Gibby screams a bunch. The song ends.

4. Tornadoes
The shortest song on the album. It's a fast Dead Kennedys-esque song -- the riff and the rhythm are pretty straightforward, but it's still got that psychedelic flair to it... perhaps it was one of their real early songs (a lot of their earliest songs -- before "Brown Reason to Live" even -- sounded like this). The gang makes funny noises and scream in the background. And that's all, folks!

I can understand why it's not exactly heralded as a masterpiece... it's good, but there just isn't enough! Of course, it's just an EP. The original 12" vinyl pressing has been long out-of-print, but the contents of this EP can be found on the American CD version of "Rembrandt Pussyhorse", and the U.K. CD version of "Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac". So yeah, if ya like Buttholes and Surfers and Butthole Surfers, you should totally listen to these songs. But I'm real tired and pissed off and can't think of anything else to say. So, good day, all y'all!

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "TORNADOES"

Review #53: Butthole Surfers - Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac (1984)

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"

Review #48: Nüklear Fear - Nüklear Fear (EP) (2009)

NüKLEAR FEAR (EP)

Year: 2009
Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: None
Tracks: 9
Length: 21 Minutes (Medium-Length)
Style: Angry
My Rating: 5/8

Nüklear Fear is a new hardcore band from Dallas, Texas (a state which seems to produce some pretty good punk rock). If their MySpace was created the same time as the band formed, they've only been around for not even a year, but they already seem like they know what they're doing. In November, they released a new self-titled E.P. for free download AND for mail-order, so it's relatively easy to get ahold of this band's songs. More of their work will be featured on various punk compilations. Their sound is influenced by American and British punk rock such as G.B.H., the Reagan Youth, Agnostic Front, Motörhead, and the Circle Jerks. As a result, their sound is a thrashy, messy style of hardcore punk. Yet, there's a certain freshness, here. This band sounds like they could've written and recorded their songs back in 1981, which isn't a bad thing at all.

1. Time of Judgement
Starts with the riff repeated a few times with thumping bass drums and bass-guitar, until the whole thing goes into a thrasher. Terrorist, which I think is the name of the band's vocalist, barks the vocals like a dog. A punk-rock dog.

2. Raining Death
Slow intro which gradually speeds up. In the middle of the song it does the slow thing again. The chorus is a repeated chant of "raining death!".

3. Anxiety Attack
Can't think of much to say about this one. It'd be nice if I could find lyrics for these songs, y'know. Uhh... this song is fast.

4. All We Know
I really like the vocals on this one. Sounds a little like a young Ian MacKaye, here.

5. Confusion Their Conclusion
This one has a good riff. The riff sounds similar to Flipper's "Living for the Depression", but this song is much faster.

6. Genocide Nightmare
kfdgjdfkglfdkhd0-ik3kadjasjdhasdl;as'fdlf;'dsflds

7. Kill Hardcore
Shortest song on the record. But why are we supposed to kill hardcore? And with what? A gun? A knife? Or maybe "kill" in this case is an adjective. It's hardcore for killing people. The only line in this song is "KILL HARDCORE", turns out.

8. No Need for This
Is this a love-song? The singing is so fast that I can't really tell. But maybe it is. dfgd

9. Nüklear Fear
Usually, in most hardcore bands, the band will actually have a song named after them. Such is the case with Nüklear Fear. And that's the lyrics to the song: "NüKLEAR FEAR!". It's repetitive, but it's got a really cool flow to it, for some reason. I like it. Longest song on the record, being actually over two minutes long. Favorite track on the album.

Hidden Track
Five minutes of silence... at about seven minutes into the final track, you hear the word "--four", as the SECRET SAWNG starts. It's not quite as fast as most of the songs on the record, but still pretty fast.

While the songs should appeal to any hardcore fan, the album production might not. I personally love the production, but it's really murky and lo-fi; it sounds like it was recorded live to a single tape-player. And maybe it was. But I do like these songs. It always makes me happy when I find out about a great new rock n' roll band. This is one of these. They've only begun, too, so try to support them if you can or if you live near them in Texas, because I think things are looking pretty good for 'em at this point. They know how to write a song, and they have a great sound, so I suggest you check them out. I'm going to provide you with the links to this EP and their MySpace page below:

DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM
http://www.reverbnation.com/nuklearfear

OFFICIAL MYSPACE
http://www.myspace.com/turnyourbacktxhc

Review #36: Butthole Surfers - Live PCPPEP (EP) (1984)

Live PCPPEP (EP)

Year: 1984

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Noise
Label: Alternative Tentacles
Tracks: 7
Length: 21 Minutes (Medium-Length)
Style: Weird/Funny
My Rating: 6/8

After the Butthole Surfers' first LP, they began recording what would be "Psychic, Powerless... Another Man's Sac" in 1984. However, when recording issues came up, the Buttholes reportedly had a financial need to release another album. And so, they released a live record, "Live PCPPEP" on Alternative Tentacles to supplement this. This is the first instance of a clown on a Butthole Surfers album cover.

The album is mostly made up of live versions of most of the songs on "Butthole Surfers", but there's two new songs as well: "Cowboy Bob", a song that would later appear on the next record, and "Dance of the Cobras", a short, bizarre noise piece.

1. Cowboy Bob
A different version of this song was on "Psychic, Powerless... Another Man's Sac". I like this version better, though, to be honest. It's a little slow in most parts, and it utilizes Gibby's saxophone talents, as Paul Leary screams line a maniac, and Gibby wails.

2. Bar-B-Q Pope
This is pretty similar to the song on the first record, except inbetween the verses, Gibby is doing a mile-a-minute imaginary sports commentary, probably tripping on acid 'er something. The studio version is still superior, though. I thought Paul's vocals sounded more hilarious on the original version.

3. Dance of the Cobras
This track never really appeared anywhere else. Not even sure if it quite counts as a "song" as much as just a noise-jam. Just bass guitar and saxophone sounds for about half a minute.

4. The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave
Once again, like the original, but slightly inferior. The beats in the instrumental sections aren't as fast, and the lines seem a little more forced, here. Still, it's the Butthole Surfers. End of Side 1.

5. Wichita Cathedral
Starts with the little bass-thingy, which lasts a lot longer than the studio versions's does. Otherwise, this song is pretty much the same as the studio version.

6. Hey
This one begins a lot slower than the studio version. They usually started "Hey" off a lot slower when it was played live. However, like the studio version, it gets a lot faster in the halfway section onwards.

7. Something
Much like "Hey", they played "Something" really slow live. This version is two fucking minutes longer than the studio version. Ends with Gibby Haynes talking to the crowd.

So, this was the first Butthole Surfers live album. Not quite as epic of proportions as "Double Live", but it's still somewhat solid (heh, "solid"). In my opinion, the main reason to get it iz the badass version of "Cowboy Bob", or if you wanna hear what "Dance of the Cobras" sounds like. The sound quality is pretty nice for a 1984 live record. BUTTHOOOOOOOLDFLEELEELFSLE;GLS;'GL';FLG DFDKLGJFDGS[PSDGPSFGSLD6576GHJKJ

SOME LIVE PERFORMANCES OF SONGS FROM THE ALBUM:

Review #26: Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician (1987)

LOCUST ABORTION TECHNICIAN

Year: 1987

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Noise, Experimental, Hardcore
Label: Touch & Go Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 33 Minutes (Medium-Length)
Style: Weird/Scary/Funny
My Rating: 8/8

This is one of the greatest albums to ever be made. It has been said to scare some people, amuse others, and it makes me laugh! With that being said, a lot of people consider this album to be the high-point of the band's career, and the band had never made something quite this weird or disturbing before, and they certainly never did again.

According to Gibby Haynes itself, it's a concept album in which each song is a concept in itself. And he's just about right. There is almost zero filler here, except for the fact that they had two different versions of the same song on here. But other than that, every single song is different. Every one has something new to offer. There is grunge, punk, industrial rock, thrash-metal, and a whole plethora of downright bizarre, extremely creative tracks.

The whole album is like a mental roller-coaster ride. In fact, don't even read this review if you've never heard this record before. I don't want you to know what to expect. Listen to the damn album. That's the best experience you could have. But, if you've already heard this, then READ ON:

1. Sweat Loaf
*silence*
(slowly, soft string music can be heard fading in)
Child: "Daddy?"
Father: "Yes, Son?"
Child: "Wh-Wh-What does regret mean?"
Father: "Well, Son, a funny thing about regret is that it's better to regret something you HAVE done than to regret something you HAVEN'T done... and by the way, if you see your Mom this weekend, would you be sure and tell her: SATAN! SATAN! SATAN!"
That dialogue opens the album. After that, it goes right into a slow, grunge-sounding intro with Gibby yelling. This ends with a soft guitar solo and the sounds of the wind blowing. Back to the "verse" section which is harder and heavier, and now has Gibby using the "Gibbytronix" (a voice modulation device) and laughing. Back to the calm section of the song. Back to the verse part, one more time! This ends with the sound of wind blowing as Gibby's howls fade out. The whole song is said to be some sort of parody of "Sweet Leaf" by Black Sabbath. And still, they have not yet even scraped the surface of the insanity to ensue...

2. Graveyard (Version 1)
Starts with just the guitar. Then the beat and the bass join in. It's of a similar musical style to the previous track, and Gibby's voice is being played in a very low pitch. Sounds really funny, to be honest! This song isn't my favorite, though... it's a bit repetitive.

3. Pittsburg to Lebanon
Starts with the sounds of birds tweeting, which is interrupted by another heavy dirge-fest. Gibby's singing here resembles '70s metal vocals. This one is even slower than the last two songs. Spooky falsetto vocals in the background. The song ends with sounds from a radio. It's about to get even crazier...

4. Weber
This is where it starts to get really weird. This is the shortest track on the album. It's basically a short little lead-guitar driven instrumental piece that is about 37 seconds long or so. Before you know it, it fades out in a slightly eerie way.

5. Hay
This one is scary. It's the soundtrack to insanity. There's a bunch of extremely fast backwards music playing with the sounds of a bunch of mentally retarded adults screaming "HAY!" in the background. Has a very freaky ending, with all of them yelling "HAY" one last time with a scary echo into the darkness.

6. Human Cannonball
The only "normal" song on the entire album. It's basically a traditional-sounding punk song in with lyrics that actually sound unusually serious for the Butthole Surfers. I listen to this in the car a lot. Starts with the beat, and then you hear a voice saying "Are you ready to rock?? WELCOME!!!", and then the bass, and the guitar kick in. This one has a truly wonderful riff, introduced by a nice solo. Before you know it, Gibby starts singing a song that seems to be about feelings of abuse or being rejected. There's another solo later on in the song, and it's one of my favorite guitar-solos I've ever heard. But this song is great. It's like a single moment of sanity and calmness amidst the sea of chaos. But it doesn't last forever. This song is the end of Side 1.

7. U.S.S.A.
This one is also very strange. It sounds like industrial rock. It has one of the scariest, most abrasive-sounding riffs ever, which has a strange clicking sound in the background, the sound of a record being scratched, and a strange high-pitched voice repeatedly shouting "U.S.S.A.! U.S.S.R.! U.S.A.! U.S.R.!". That's pretty much the song, but it lasts for awhile.

8. The O-Men
This is the definition of "badass". It's a crossover-thrash song, and it has Gibby growling unintelligible lyrics to a repeated beat, as well as sped-up voices, slowed-down voices, and a "solo" that is made up of the sounds of tape rewinding.

9. Kuntz
An amazing track. An old-fashioned Thai folk song totally fucked and screwed up to make it sounds like they're saying "kunt" over and over again as well as other Butthole magic. If this doesn't totally make you laugh on the first listen, then I feel sorry for you.

10. Graveyard (Version 2)
WHY the hell did they have to do the same song twice on this album? That's my only complaint about it. They could have included some other NEW song, but this is just a more "normal" sounding version of track 2.

11. 22 Going on 23
This one is pretty weird. It's basically the same bassline and beat repeated over and over with the sounds of a radio broadcast interview of a schizophrenic woman who claimed that she was sexually assaulted. I was playing it in the car one night and my friend actually asked me to turn it off, he was so offended by it. There is a strangely "happy" solo in the middle of this one. The song ends with, well, the sound of cows and crickets. While somebody else who had reviewed this album said they were in a "field", I personally think "slaughterhouse" sounds more fitting. It's a pretty creepy ending.

The Butthole Surfers were never quite this weird again, and some actually even think they "sold out" after this album. Well, regardless, if you like any form of alternative music, you simply MUST listen to this! You'll never be quite the same.

Review #1: Butthole Surfers - Butthole Surfers (1983)

BUTTHOLE SURFERS

Year: 1983
Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Noise
Label: Alternative Tentacles
Tracks: 7
Length: 18 Minutes (Medium-Length)
Style: Funny
My Rating: 7/8

*feedback* "THERE'S A TIME TO FUCK, AND A TIME TO CRAVE, BUT THE SHAH SLEEPS IN LEE HARVEY'S GRAVE!!!!!"

If you were to actually hear this on the actual album, you would likely either go "what the fuck is this crap?" OR just laugh your ass off. Hopefully the latter. There are some people who avoid this band even because of the CONCEPT of listening to a band with the word "Butthole" in its name. As a result, it is a lot harder to find this band's records in stores than it should be (or at least they act like "Electriclarryland" was the only album they ever released). Well, it's their loss.

By 1983, mainstream music was beginning to get worse than ever before, and this album was probably one of the biggest slaps to the face of that in its time. Offensive, weird, and un-structured. This was also one of the first "slow-core" albums, as the Butthole Surfers were one of the first bands (alongside Flipper, Black Flag, and the Melvins) to take hardcore punk and slow it down to unconventional speeds (this eventually resulted in the "grunge" genre). I think that if I had heard this in 1983, I would have considered the Butthole Surfers kings. This was long before they got to the pinnacle of their weirdness, but it'll still definitely confuse a lot of mainstream music-lovers.

But there is a lot more to the album than that. Part of its appeal is its diversity of style. Tracks 1 & 6 are hardcore thrashers, tracks 2 & 4 are sort of trippy-sounding pieces, and tracks 3 & 7 are examples of slow hardcore proto-grunge stuff. Side 1 is good, but I think that the best part of the album is the entirety of Side 2. The album is only 18 minutes long, so it's easy to listen to the whole thing in one sitting, and there's very little filler. Anyways, here's the damn review...

1. The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave
This one is hilarious. It's basically a bunch of offensive weird rhymes about various culture figures from the 1960s, interspliced with thrashy sections that make nearly every so-called "rock" band today look like pussies. You can also hear some guy screaming "NO!" in the background. The songs slows down with the narrator (Paul Leary) talking about how God is 2nd to him, and after that, it's just some guy curled up in the corner screaming "SHUT UP!" in agony, as the screams turn to wimpers...

2. Hey
This is probably one of the songs I like less off of the album. It almost sounds like garage-rock or something, and this is the first song on the album where Gibby Haynes does the vocals. From the lyrics, I think it is supposed to be some sort of weird love-song. Halfway through the song, the speed picks up in the song and it gets slightly more edgy.

3. Something
This is a slow song. Paul Leary sings, and Gibby plays the saxophone in this song. There doesn't appear to really be any sort of theme to the song, just some random lyrics. There's a pretty repetitive-but-heavy bassline, and a lot of sax and guitar-noise in the foreground. Side 1 ends with this track, and we go on to the even better Side 2.

4. Bar-B-Q Pope
This is the song that got me hooked on the Butthole Surfers. It's a slower, psychedelic song about a guy who has killed the barbecue man, and is hiding. Also, the Pope has been shot. It opens with a mellow, mature-sounding bass and guitar line, but it suddenly interrupted by Paul Leary's maniac shrieks, as he sings the song in a way that makes it hard to tell wether he's feeling angry, guilty, or happy. It's a pretty funny song.

5. Wichita Cathedral
This is a song that you can dance to. It kinda reminds me of "cowpunk" a bit, as it has a country-ish bassline and beat coupled with punk rock fury. Gibby sings in this song, and it's about how he got wasted at the Wichita Cathedral and was chased by a dog. It has a nice mood to it. Maybe you should get wasted to this song as well.

6. Suicide
Probably one of the few serious-sounding songs that this band has ever done. It's basically a deep, poetic-sounding song sung by Gibby Haynes about, well, feelings of suicide and being trapped in a room of problems. It's pretty fast if that's what kind of stuff you dig, and you've gotta love the two great screams from Gibby that the song ends with. Shortest song on the album.

7. The Revenge of Anus Presley
Ya know "Pee Pee the Sailor" (a parody of Popeye the Sailor Man with an ass for a face) from the album's disc art? I'd like to think that these two are friends, or at least brothers of some sort. And while Pee Pee the Sailor comes off as being some sort of jolly fellow, Anus Presley is one of the angriest, meanest motherfuckers you'll ever hear of. He's got the nerve to rip off your toenails as if they were just Twinkies, or peel off your skin as easily as he'd peel a potato. I personally like to go with Wikipedia's explanation of this track, as it being a Black Flag/Henry Rollins parody, because if that was the intent of this track, this is a very good parody. It may not be musically great or anything (who cares?), but I think that it is very funny.

Well, that is the end of the album. It's not too short, but not too long, it's a solid listen, there isn't really a boring track on it, and don't mess with Anus Presley.