Butthole Surfers- Classic or dud?

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I'd like to think that I don't want them to sound just like they did in the 80's (though maybe I really do), but this. . . ? It just seems that they are following trends a little too much. So many of the songs are in the same sort of dead-pan rap that was used in "Spice," but this is even dead-pannier. I didn't know it was six years old.

― DeRayMi, Sunday, 11 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeah, it was started as After The Astronaut before they got into legal issues with Capitol. I managed to get a copy of the promotional After the Astronaut off ebay and it is Weird Revolution with 2 extra songs: Junky Jenny in Gaytown and Turkey and Dressing. You can tell it's a totally unfinished/in the works album, but all the basic tracks are there and ome songs sound exactly the same, like Jet Fighter, for instance. They Came In was actually better on Astronaut.

The really interesting thing about this band, for me, is the consistent in-joke referencing from album to album. They repeat the same phrases or explore the same subject matter as previous for a line or two. It's an on-going thing and it's the thin line that keeps it all "the same". Just a quick example offa WR: "Shit Like That" he says "I need another DOCTOR!" and "doctor" is sung/screamed the exact same way as off the Widowermaker e.p. where he goes "DOCTOR don't toucha me there, DOCTOR" etc. There's a whole bunch of these references/phrases if you go back and play your albums, you'll see it clearly. It's funny. Other phrases: "empty parking lot" (found in Negro Observer and Golden Showers) and "get down", a phrase which finally gets it's own song on WR. Anyway, there's a bunch.

― Nude Spock, Monday, 12 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two years pass...

Ok what do I buy?

-Boredoms fan

― Be sure to Loop! Loop, Loop, Loop. (ex machina), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 13:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Hairway to Steven is the best, although I'm also excessively fond of their Double Live "official" bootleg. Rembrandt Pussyhorse and Locust Abortion Technician are also excellent. The recent comp of rarities/unreleased stuff Humpty Dumpty LSD gives a good career overview and is probably fairly easy to find.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 25 May 2004 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)

SMC = OTM

― sexyDancer, Tuesday, 25 May 2004 15:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Psychic.. Powerless..Another Man's Sac!!!

(I know this is just more of an indie cred/protest issue, but if you can find the used Touch & Go copies, you're a better man/woman for it (and slightly more rich). The Butts kinda did to that label what the ex Dead Kennedys did to Jello Biafra...)

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 15:34 (twenty-two years ago)

DEAR BOREDOMS FAN! FAN! FAN!

shakey mo sounds knows what he's talking about, but i think youll be happiest with the great mid 80s trilogy material ("rembrandt pussyhorse" "psychic...powerless" and "locust abortion technition")
hairway to steven isnt quite as good in my opinion, and stay way clear of anything after that. also, i'm not sure humpty dupty lsd really is a good career overview, it's more an odds and ends thing.

also seek out CREAM CORN ep, hard to find tho.

definitely agree with donut bitch, don't buy from latino bugger veil!!

― my name is limitless, Tuesday, 25 May 2004 16:09 (twenty-two years ago)

http://pod-135.dolphin-server.co.uk/~gareth/beautiful2/creamcorn.jpg

― gareth (gareth), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

plenty o'brain cells went into that there catalog. Double-Live got lots of 'em. if I'm not mistaken, their website still has vinyl copies. LAT is still a perverse pleasure to return to.

― beaty dna, Tuesday, 25 May 2004 17:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Classic up to and including Hairway. After that, meh.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 17:54 (twenty-two years ago)

"PIOUGHD" and "Independent Worm Saloon" have their moments (GARRY SHANDLING! GARRY SHANDLING! JOEY BISHOP!) but they veer pretty widely from their previous records. Lots more drum machines and keyboards, an overall slicker and more conventional sound. Some of the John Paul Jones-produced stuff has a nice fuzz-guitar punk-rock propulsion to it - like that "I don't give a fuck about the CIA" song - but it seems pretty stiff compared to their older material. Not as many sonic surprises.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 25 May 2004 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

while most of the Texas Trip comp is impossible to wade through,, the two B-H songs on it, "All Day" and "Flame Grape" (an early version of "Jimi") kill. the former (which i believe is a rip-off of throbbing gristle) has gibby trading lines with daniel johnston, all bathed in loads of gibbytronix.

― beaty dna, Tuesday, 25 May 2004 18:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Also see The Jackofficers... this is certainly more up JWILLIAMS STYLEE

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 19:16 (twenty-two years ago)

That hidden thing behind the text of my last message is a link to a Jackofficers thread.

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 19:17 (twenty-two years ago)

(assuming this page will remain purple)

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 19:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Eternal classic, no matter how increasingly irrelevent their post-Touch & Go output. No band in history combined punk and psychedelia, the '60s and the '80s, sheer sonic fuckedup-ness and songcraft (a near unthinkable combo) as brashly as these sickos. Add innovation, humour, repulsiveness, big drumbeats, hilarious interviews, nontraditional guitar-wank, etc. and you get the band that created Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac, my favourite rec of the '80s and one of my top five alltime. On a personal note, I almost didn't get the cushy job at which I am working this very minute, because my interview was scheduled for the morning after a Surfers concert! It still woulda been worth it...

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

The widowermaker! ep is after hairway to steven, and is still prime era stuff. thats total classic ep

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Okay, tell me about the piss-wand wiffle ball bats.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I didn't realise Widowermaker was later than HTS. Okay, Classic up to that, then.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 20:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I have a Butthole Surfers 10" that you can have if you want, JON.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 20:29 (twenty-two years ago)

h, is that the one with Mr. Photonegative Elephantitus on the cover with the vomit colored vinyl?

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 25 May 2004 23:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I loved the mid 80s stuff but for some reason my fave track was off a comp called Smack my crack it was called Boiled Dove and ruled.

I remember geting super wasted driving around austin with my best friend who was a stripper at the time singing their version of American Woman over and over again.

Saw gibby around in his hot rod a few times too. The austin scene was kinda tight and we shared dealers from what i remember.

― hector (hector), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 04:10 (twenty-two years ago)

This is a dangerous thread to even poke the tip of my cork into (steer clear of purple precipices), but they were a dangerous band so what the hell. They were an amazing renunciation of punk politics through self-centered erratic living. Always a cynical and therefore evil meltdown. "Boiled Dove" is one of their best five songs. My favorite likely false story is that Gibby wiped his dick on Jimmy Carter's satchel when they played Brown University and Amy Carter brought them over. My favorite misconception is that their drum triggers were drum machines. Their vibe explained in three minutes of cinema is the hitchhiker scene in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where the burnface greasehair takes a polaroid, lights it on fire, and then slits his palm with a knife after saying "I got a knife" -- also a lyric in Buttholes' "Gary Floyd." Classic until midway Pioughd (the album that broke Rough Trade), and I'm glad they got to play Letterman after they went out to pasture.

Locust Abortion Technician is a way of life = LSDmo.

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 05:09 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

Revive! this pretty purple thread. Why? Cos Pioughd just popped into my head for no reason, and I haven't heard it since 1992, and I was wondering if I should locate it and buy it and listen to it again til my head explodes again like it did all those years ago.

But Amazon UK says it's been deleted. Should I just get Hairway To Steven and have done with it? (I've never heard HTS btw)

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Sunday, 28 August 2005 11:58 (twenty years ago)

Hairway to Steven, Locust Abortion Technician, Rembrandt Pussyhorse = the trinity of BHS records for most people.

― Ian John50n (orion), Sunday, 28 August 2005 12:40 (twenty years ago)

Where the FUCK is the love for "Pepper"???

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Sunday, 28 August 2005 13:42 (twenty years ago)

HTS is essential, ians triumverate is probably right, though i think psychic powerless...another mans sac squeezes in there also (and the widowermaker ep is overlooked from this period)

but the pcpep/brown reason to live period stuff is just as good, in a different way.

just get hairway to steven, you can't go wrong with that. then get rembrambt pussyhorse after that, i reckon

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 28 August 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

pepper's a good jam.
my friend phil used to have the psychic...powerless and widowermaker CDs. we'd drive around in the suburbs burning a j and listening to them.

oh, high school.

― Ian John50n (orion), Sunday, 28 August 2005 13:58 (twenty years ago)

Pioughd is worth three bucks.. I'll give it that much. I don't think even the band would say that.

― donut gon' nut (donut), Sunday, 28 August 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)

"And has anyone seen that "family style barbeque" video Touch & Go made where gibby greases the frying pan with his trouser snake juice that oozes into letter formations spelling "SATAN"? What the hell????"

Stupidity? Annoyingness?

Zoogz Rift >>>>>> Butthole Surfers

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 28 August 2005 18:55 (twenty years ago)

you miss
the point

― Ian John50n (orion), Sunday, 28 August 2005 19:12 (twenty years ago)

what is
this point
?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 28 August 2005 19:15 (twenty years ago)

Well, as far as my point goes anyway, w/ the Zoogz comparison, is that Zoogz can be stupid and annoying, too, but he is also often genuinely funny whereas the Butthole Surfers are ... what ... supposed to be funny?

Also, Zoogz's music is vastly better than the BH Surfers' music and this counts because this is music that we are talking about.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 28 August 2005 19:47 (twenty years ago)

"Zoogz's music is vastly better than the BH Surfers' music"

QUALIFY THIS STATEMENT

― Ian John50n (orion), Sunday, 28 August 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

Well, I don't know, Ian. I mean, I can't imagine that you're THAT impressed with the BH Surfers, musically speaking, right? They were OK, but like a lot of '80s indie bands, they weren't very tight, they didn't have that great of a sound, etc. Songwriting-wise, I think they were OK, you know, but not great, really. Better than a lot of Shimmy Disc bands, probably?

Zoogz, on the other hand, is seriously talented at a Zappa-type level. And that doesn't just mean goofy complexity all the time. Like Zappa, he was also just plain talented at writing good tunes (plus arranging, having a really tight band that sounded good, etc.).

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 28 August 2005 20:18 (twenty years ago)

Nothing per se against Zoogz but the Surfers over him anyday of the week. Far more, shall we say, erratic in intent while more direct in terms of song.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 28 August 2005 20:23 (twenty years ago)

I mostly agree with Ian and charlton on this, although I almost never listen to the Butthole Surfers any more, and find them a little depressing for a couple different reasons. I've always thought they did get to be a pretty tight band, but I don't have a musicianly perspective.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 28 August 2005 20:24 (twenty years ago)

Ned, complexity isn't the antithesis of directness, though.

And what could be more direct than some of Zoogz's pronoucements???

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 28 August 2005 20:33 (twenty years ago)

Consider this: there are fourteen tracks on Zoogz's Looser Than Clams compilation LP record. Average time length: just over three minutes.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 28 August 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

amateurist + Aaron Zanders = Tim Ellison

― the food has a top snake of 1 (ex machina), Sunday, 28 August 2005 20:46 (twenty years ago)

Someone arguing somewhat passionately about stuff + arguing a point that doesn't resonate with Jon Williams well = Jon Williams equates person with Aaron

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 28 August 2005 20:51 (twenty years ago)

And if Aaron were to agree w/ me that Zoogz is better than the BH Surfers, then bully for him, ya dick!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 28 August 2005 21:04 (twenty years ago)

ten months pass...

I've never heard Zoogz Rift. Butthole Surfers are one of my favorite bands, though.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Monday, 17 July 2006 04:30 (nineteen years ago)

Zoogz is looser than clams.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 17 July 2006 04:34 (nineteen years ago)

I'll check him out.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Monday, 17 July 2006 04:36 (nineteen years ago)

http://static.flickr.com/2/2038201_c81a37f3e6_m.jpg

― less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Monday, 17 July 2006 04:50 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2006/07/05/slacker/story.jpg

― less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Monday, 17 July 2006 04:57 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...

On August 18 2006, Gibby announced a new Butthole Surfers record is in the making.

― StanM (StanM), Friday, 15 September 2006 22:29 (nineteen years ago)

They were OK, but like a lot of '80s indie bands, they weren't very tight, they didn't have that great of a sound, etc. Songwriting-wise, I think they were OK, you know, but not great, really. Better than a lot of Shimmy Disc bands, probably?

No sound! What? The oscilating, slow burn of two drummers and a million layers of psych feedback with super low pitch vocals, swirling around the audience -- are you kidding me? They were loose in the best possible sense.

― Period period period (Period period period), Saturday, 16 September 2006 05:16 (nineteen years ago)

They could be incredibly tight as well (large parts of Psychedelic Jam and John E. Smoke, for instance)

― StanM (StanM), Saturday, 16 September 2006 05:53 (nineteen years ago)

Skipping 394 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I mean, augmented by a helluva lot of puppets.

Fair point, there was puppets galore.

― jvc, Wednesday, 26 November 2025 16:48 (six months ago)

three months pass...

Meanwhile, I'm part of the Kickstarter campaign for the documentary, paid in January of 2022. What I have received or seen so far: FUCK ALL

― StanM, Saturday, 14 March 2026 19:54 (two months ago)

classic Buttholes move tbh

― Serfin' USA (sleeve), Saturday, 14 March 2026 19:55 (two months ago)

Sadly this has been a common problem with most Kickstarter campaigns I've encountered. There are great exceptions, like Hal Hartley, Don Hertzfeldt, Robert Woodhead and the late D A Pennebaker. Those guys delivered to everyone I know who took part. (They basically asked for stuff like Blu-rays, books or records and got them in timely fashion.)

― birdistheword, Saturday, 14 March 2026 20:09 (two months ago)

Chicago screening of the doc: Music Box Theater, Thursday, April 2nd - 3:45 PM.
It's on the program for a 4-day festival, but that's a funny time.

― Mike Dixn, Sunday, 15 March 2026 22:10 (two months ago)

two months pass...

Has anyone here heard the new release of After The Astronaut?

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 26 May 2026 20:32 (two weeks ago)

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