Butthole Surfers- Classic or dud?

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...the old stuff, the new stuff, the fucked up home videos, the amazing live shows, the fact that you need to drop acid to even appreciate most of their catalog... good or bad? 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????

― Nude Spock, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

ok, i have to say that butthole surfers are absolute classic. they were probably the first group i really liked, at around age 12/13, circa 89.

i don't know what it is about them that is so damn cool, they just are (well, were). there seems to be a rather sniffy dismissive attitude of their 80s career now, probably runs contrary to the homogenous images of 'the 80s' that we now see presented in the media.

i always saw the butthole surfers, in a way, as like an american version of happy mondays (up to bummed anyway), a gang of deranged drugged up people who didn't know the limits, and somehow managed to cobble together these amazing records, that were totally off the wall and exciting, but never felt like they were trying to do anything unusual. more of a 'hey, isn't this how music's made all the time?'

i guess theres that whole roky erikson texan acid psychedelia thing that apparently runs through much of texan music too.

i think everything up to pioughd is total classic, pioughd is still very good although the magic had started to fade, and everything post-pioughd is crap, bin it. i think they decided to take the grunge/alt rock dollar in order to fund their other projects. and why not?

that jack officers acid house album is a complete mistake though...

― gareth, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I used to cry to the Hairway to Steven album. That is a classic. Classic bad taste album. (I didnt use to cry but almost...)

― ty@hotmail.com, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

i always saw the butthole surfers, in a way, as like an american version of happy mondays

Wow, that's the most insulting thing I've ever heard said about the Butthole Surfers. Better hope Gibby doesn't track you down! I think I get where you're coming from, but the Buttholes were there first, and they were truly insane instead of just wasted brats. Nothing in the world prepared me for the live version of "The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave", the first thing I heard from them--it scared the bejeezus out of me at the time. Later on it became a bit more cartoony and easier to take. And by the way, if you see your mom this weekend, be sure and tell her: SATAN! SATAN! SATAN!

― Sean Carruthers, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Completely classic, original and unique. Comparing them to Happy Mondays is like comparing them to the Fixx....devoid of merit. Apart from drugs, the Surfers have nothing in common with the Mondays.

― alex in nyc, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

A guy with blue hair and a tongue ring once got me to record his band's demo over a tape of them. He said they sucked ass. I saw no reason to quibble. He was well impressed that my dad went to college with the drummer out of the Specials, who were on the other side of the tape.

― Greg, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

'Locust Abortion Technician', and 'Hairway to Steven', are worthy of anyones adoration. Thereafter dud, and before... haven't a clue. Locust's mix of Black Sabbath bass, prog gitarz, and punk attitude was a revelation to this pair of ears. Knew a bloke that toured with them whose strongest memory was the obsessive way Gibby Haynes would take amps to pieces and reconstruct them in an attempt to achieve some sound he evidently had in his head, but couldn't yet hear.

― Stevo, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Johnny was a midget lesbian boy who stood ten foot tall with a KNIFE...

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Favourite song...ever.

― ty@hotmail.com, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

John was a little CRIPPLED midget lesbian boy! I have a great video where he's really making shit up and suddenly he stops and looks confused and says, "I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about", turns around and nods to the band and they go into the next rampaging part of the song.

― Nude Spock, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I liked Independent Worm Saloon. It got me into them in the 1^st place! Since then I ralised that their first album pisses over the others, but I still love it. Plus it has a cool c00l title.

― Kodanshi, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I wondered how long it'd be before someone started using serious hardcore HTML skillz on ILM. Bold, underline and images in one post is totally over the top.

― Greg, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Don't forget the superscript. Rock it, Kodanshi!

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Why do you say that? http://209.15.55.238/ubb/confused.gif Hasn't anyone ever done that previously ??? http://209.15.55.238/ubb/biggrin.gif

― Kodanshi, Thursday, 7 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Dude, what the hell?

http://thebigtrip.hypermart.net/images/danceman.gif

Weeehaaa! I wish I just changed the background to black, but I know I didn't. Still, you can't blame me for tryin.

― Nude Spock, Thursday, 7 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Let me out of this frickin' box already!!!

― Nude Spock, Thursday, 7 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

http://www.mysmilies.com/cgi-bin/r.cgi?otn/laughing Try refreshing the page a few times!

― Kodanshi, Monday, 11 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Best background color ever.

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 11 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Anyway back to zee Butties. Classic of course as per Stefo (who i'm getting creeped out with because he seems to be my doppelganger ;) Locust may have the weirder sonics but Hairway is just more fun. 'X- Ray of a Girl' IMHO features the most brilliant, out there guitar solo ever. Also the ultimate acid-record. Laugh? I turned into the freaking laughing Buddha. ;)

― Omar, Tuesday, 12 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

four months pass...

It's been a long time since I've listened to them on any regular basis, but I have to say, they are pretty good if you can get past the frat boy nihilism of it all (or if you are looking for frat boy nihilism). They were the last rock band I ever got really excited about. I think a lot of people who only know them by name would be surprised at how good some of the music actually sounds.

My favorite recordings are: Hairway to Steven, Rembrandt Pussyhorse/Cream Corn, Locust Abortion Technician, and Psychic Powerless Another Mans Sac. Haven't bought their last couple. Whatever happened to the album Brown Reason for Living? I remember seeing it on vinyl but I don't believe it was ever evacuated onto CD.

― DeRayMi, Monday, 5 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

T&G years: classic all the way. Major label era: dud. (Sorry to filfull that ol' cliche, but it's true here)

"Psychic Powerless", "Cream Corn", and"Rembrandt Pussyhorse" being the ones to search for.. always liked "Locust", but it's a tad overrated. "Hairway" and "Widowermaker" were great and quite underrated.

The Butts were also an underrated influence on a lot of current damaged/complex rock.. like Terminal Cheesecake, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, etc... (Sonic Youth were influential in the same way too, but they seem to get more of credit for it...)

― Brian MacDonald, Monday, 5 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

revisionism has written the butthole surfers out of history unfortunately

― gareth, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

They'll always stay with me. Did anyone see the tour video where they set fire to their bus on Michael Stipes' lawn? Do anyone else know that Gibby's father was a well-known Cable TV clown who presented kids programs. Did anyone see the original Electric Larryland cover - titled OKLAHOMA (original showtune font) with a photo of the bomb site. How can we ever forget them?

― K-reg, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

They are unerappreciated. I don't actually think their newest stuff that I've heard is so bad (The last I bought was Worm Salon), but I do think the earlier things are better. They could put together a really impressive best of if they wanted to. (Or have they?) There are some pretty funny bits on the "The Hole Truth And Nothing Butt. . ." collection (including a very brief Elvis Costello imitation).

(Idea for Butthole Surfers album title: All Things Must Pass Gas.)

― DeRayMi, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

is jeff/ lincoln pinkus still in the band? i thought daddy longhead were great. and who actually was responsible for the jack officers ? some people insist it was paul & gibby, some insist it was pinkus, some king. i think they died after lisa (was that her name)left although "alcohol" & "strwberry" (& the whole of "piuoughd" i thought were simply faboo.

― bob snoom, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

and please can somebody tell me what paul leary was playing at with "the history of dogs" album. i bought this for £1.99 and haven't ever booted it out because i find it such a source of extreme bafflement. is he a drug addled twat and nothing more? is it a joke gone wrong? is it just execrable shite?

― bob snoom, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The one time I saw them (already relatively late: 1990 or 1991), Paul Leary, I guess it was, kept rolling his head and eyes around, almost like he was having a seizure (though I *do* think it was intentional). But he didn't do it for just one song. As I remember, he did it through the whole show. It was impressive in a way.

I was supposed to see them again, but it was an all ages show, and the person I was going with kept saying we would have plenty of time, that it couldn't possibly start as early as I was thinking it might start. So we hung around my apartment getting stoned. We showed up at the door, and the guy at the door said, "Dude, the butts are playing their encore now," or something like that.

This thread inspired me to get out some of the CDs and listen to them again, and a lot of this stuff still sounds good to me. At the same time, it's not really what I want to listen to these days, though "I Saw An X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas" should be a more widely acknowledged classic. I remember being very dubious about that song based on its title, but when I finally heard it, I had to give in.

― DeRayMi, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

History of the Dogs is kinda good. He's pretty into being stoned. They are all pretty into being stoned. They're music is pretty much, in some way, half-assed. History of the Dogs is no different. I expected something different from Paul, too, when I bought this for $2. But, if you think about the direction the Buttholes have taken, it makes perfect sense. History of the Dogs is more straight ahead power-chord rock than the odd random-key noodling on previous albums (I think we have Gibby to thank for that, actually- you can hear and watch the difference on bootlegs between Gibby's high-pitched single-string meandering nonsense and Paul's ultra-processed cheez whiz spew sound)... Jackofficers, which was Gibby and King, shows the other end, which was acid house. Starting on Pioughd, King was dicking around with low budget drum machines (not sure why, he's an excellent drummer). Independent Worm Saloon was the most rock-ish album they ever put out followed by a pretty-digital hip-hoppy Electric Larryland. King went on to form the great Drain that is very techno-acidic, where he perfected drum-programming. Paul went on to perfect his producing skills with Sublime and the like. Finally, when they were allowed to legally release the Astronaut songs on a different label under the name Weird Revolution, they had the perfect mix of rock and trippy dance music. They cut a few harsher songs that were on the original After the Astronaut. All in all, I see the evolution and it makes sense. To be honest, I like the mellow songs and always have. I hope they continue to make less-fucked up, mellow-trippy albums that have a positive feel. I'm over the screaming/dischord noise thing. They did it the best on Psychic, Powerless and Hairway To Steven. I love the second half of Rembrandt Pussyhorse, but have little use for songs like Perry, Whilring Hall of Knives and Strangers Die Everyday, since I don't lay on the floor staring at the ceiling for a few hours at a time anymore.

― Nude Spock, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Paul Leary has been rolling his eyes around in his head since the beginning. When I saw them in NYC 2 weeks ago, he was still doing it. It's intentional, but he's fucked in the head and he knows it. Also, the music is for getting fucked up to, so there's the joke.

― Nude Spock, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh yeah, the first Daddy Longhead album was great, the second was not so great. Drain's "Pick Up Heaven" reminds me of the Steve Madden shoe commercial with the big headed collagey-cartoon character woman walking her baby chick down the road. It sounds like the fucked up music in the background and it is very good. Jeff Pinkus is in a band called Honky that has a new album coming out shortly.

― Nude Spock, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

there was a second daddy longhead album???? this i don't know about - that is - unless cheatos was the second.

― bob snoom, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Cheatos is the good one. After that they tried something called Supermasonic and they called it a poor man's ZZ top, but to me it sounds like Soundgarden or something. Basically, Cheatos is better.

― Nude Spock, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

BOO

― blackula!, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

boo

― Nude Spock, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

― lick my testimacles, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

― norml, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ooh - is this some sort of html hi- jinx??? go on, aren't you just like galen out of crusade, you cheeky monkeys!

― bob snoom, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Attempt at an un-BOO!

― Brian MacDonald, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well, now I feel silly for that nice, informative post I put up all in white text. It's all secret and invisible. Maybe I can change it to purple?

― Nude spock, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

BOOBIES!

― Nude spock, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Deep Purple, Classic or Dud.

― stevo, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

http://www.waneless.com/squirrel.jpg

I figured this thread was about dead... Don't hurt me!

― Nude Spock, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I went out and bought "Weird Revolution" without listening to any samples online. What a mistake. I think I was right to stop buying Butthole Surfer CDs after "Independent Worm Salon." I really don't like this. It doesn't have the sort of distinctive sound that their best albums had (and I mean it varied from album to album). I didn't like Beck's "Midnight Vulture" very much, but I think it did a better job of what this CD seems to be going for.

I'm tired of celebrations of weirdness, too.

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

I didn't really like Independent Worm Saloon much at all. At the time I did for a month or two. I like the newer sound from P to Electriclarryland and now this. It would be really boring to hear newer version of what they were doing in the 80s for my, anyway. A weird thing about them has been their consistant ability to disappoint me on first listen. It happened with every single album. Later, I go on to really appreciate them... All except IWS, that is. It's just too classic rocky for me. At the time I didn't think so, but it is their grunge album, full of regular guitar solos and powerchord riffs. Anyway, I think most people won't dig Weird Revolution, even the 14 year olds they're shooting for. It's 6 years old, after all, and it sounds it, too.

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

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)

Skipping 420 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

well yeah, see the Kramer interview linked above

― sleeve, Monday, 21 April 2025 19:40 (one year ago)

he's not at all scary and intimidating; he's very pleasant and friendly, and I think he would be to anyone. Fatherhood contributed to his comportment, surely… I was around him due to mutual friends in NYC ten years ago, and it was clear that being in Brooklyn with his wife and son, or more importantly away from Texas was very very helpful in that regard… I interviewed him and the band in the 90s, and he was very quiet and withdrawn, maybe Roky Erickson/Syd-ish in his demeanor at this time, but this was down to his recent experiences in recovery.

― veronica moser, Monday, 21 April 2025 19:48 (one year ago)

two weeks pass...

So there's that new archival live album from 1992 and I had some thoughts:

https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/reissue-of-the-week/the-butthole-surfers-live-review/

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 9 May 2025 16:23 (one year ago)

two weeks pass...

.. I don't like it. Effects and screaming by the numbers, less than accurate guitar playing, it's like their hearts weren't in it anymore.

They had lots of great great stuff until 1990, fabulous bootlegs galore, but - to be maybe a bit too harsh - they should have stopped with Double Live.

― StanM, Tuesday, 27 May 2025 07:38 (one year ago)

(great piece by Ned, though)

― StanM, Tuesday, 27 May 2025 07:41 (one year ago)

Independent Worm Saloon is by far my favorite (though not very representative) and Electric Larry Land is really solid.

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 27 May 2025 14:08 (one year ago)

two months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCKpa0QrT9c

― Maresn3st, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 11:35 (one year ago)

the David Crosby story made me laugh

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 31 July 2025 00:49 (one year ago)

two months pass...

Replacing broken link: https://www.thebeliever.net/logger/three-questions-for-kramer/

― Nicholas Raybeat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 October 2025 09:39 (one year ago)

two weeks pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DX8mGjxUFc

― Mike Dixn, Tuesday, 4 November 2025 07:00 (eleven months ago)

"Butthole Surfers: The Whole Truth and Nothing Butt" film doc as part of MD Film Fest in Baltimore Thurs. 11-6 & Sat. 11-8 ;"Sun Ra: Do the Impossible" film Sat. as part of MD Film Fest 5pm @ Parkway Theater 1 Baltimore

Anyone seen the doc yet? Should I go up to Baltimore to see it ?

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 4 November 2025 16:44 (eleven months ago)

Kind of funny the Buttholes look like a bunch of goofy rock dads now. RIP Teresa

― TAFKAPA (Matt #2), Tuesday, 4 November 2025 17:16 (eleven months ago)

I joined the crowdfunding for the film and we'll maybe get our download link and physical copy after every local venue in the US has seen it :-/

― StanM, Tuesday, 4 November 2025 17:35 (eleven months ago)

A buddy of mine contributed a bunch to the crowdfunding and said he has not gotten the gift he was promised

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 4 November 2025 17:40 (eleven months ago)

Anyone seen the doc yet? Should I go up to Baltimore to see it ?

Yes and fuck yes

― meat-based daughter-based unwellness (stevie), Wednesday, 5 November 2025 17:09 (eleven months ago)

You will laugh like a maniac for 90 mins and then sob like a baby for the last 10. it's a masterpiece.

― meat-based daughter-based unwellness (stevie), Wednesday, 5 November 2025 17:09 (eleven months ago)

three weeks pass...

The doc was great. Even though it largely followed the cut-from-one-talking-head-to-the-next format of most music documentaries, they kept the narrative going nicely. Was also visually rich.

Just to notify that there's an expanded reissue of the James Burns' BS book Let's Go To Hell published now by DiWulf. Earth Island Books just got copies for UK and EU folks.

― jvc, Wednesday, 26 November 2025 16:04 (eleven months ago)

Even though it largely followed the cut-from-one-talking-head-to-the-next format of most music documentaries

I mean, augmented by a helluva lot of puppets.

― I said awfully coy u are. (stevie), Wednesday, 26 November 2025 16:37 (eleven months ago)

I mean, augmented by a helluva lot of puppets.

Fair point, there was puppets galore.

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

classic Buttholes move tbh

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

four weeks pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBlKhrpYCwY

― Maresn3st, Wednesday, 24 June 2026 09:36 (four months ago)

very interesting - and WTF at the section that starts at 1:32:27 !?

― StanM, Friday, 26 June 2026 09:03 (four months ago)

Okay so I was a Kickstarter backer and got the chance to stream the documentary, which I finally did last night before my window expired (busy month!). Per comments up above, on the one hand follows some typical enough strategies, but on the other the range was good, even the typical talking head appearances worked well enough (Flea and Rollins perhaps inevitable, Grohl too but specific enough to make sense, Depp was annoyingly inevitable but it was fairly minimal all told).

Probably more to say in my Patreon later this week but I am truly bemused at how Paul Leary has essentially become a Hank Hill friend circle member in terms of looks and semi-laconic affect (hell, he almost was Hill). Then again we all get older.

One strange absence I will note -- zero about the Rough Trade stretch at all. Every other album was talked about one way or another but nothing about Pioughd or the Jackofficers or Leary's solo album from then too. Like it made it seem that the band went from Hairway to Lollapalooza 1991 without anything else in between, which was hardly the case!

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 29 June 2026 19:39 (four months ago)

That is weird. The Pioughd tour was when I first saw them live - at the Marquee in Manhattan in 1989.

― wipes chooser (unperson), Monday, 29 June 2026 19:52 (four months ago)

Same here, only spring 1991, with L7 and Redd Kross opening -- allegedly, at least in one version of the story I've heard, where Kurt and Courtney first met in the balcony.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 29 June 2026 19:59 (four months ago)

Anyway the best aesthetic move of the documentary was easily all the puppet stuff, which gave it a very Muppets crossed with Meet The Feebles vibe. There was some animation here and there but it felt like a reasonable balance between that, the puppetry and the actual video footage, which was legion.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 29 June 2026 20:00 (four months ago)

Huh! Word is out — documentary will get exclusive screenings via Alamo:

https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/alamo-drafthouse-undistributed-festival-films-series-1235203214/

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 2 July 2026 00:29 (three months ago)

Anyway, my fuller thoughts on the documentary:

https://www.patreon.com/nedraggett/posts/some-weekly-193-162530121

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 3 July 2026 16:15 (three months ago)

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/butthole-surfers-piouhgd-promo-toilet-489693640

― stanes on the knees and blood on the jumber (Tom D.), Wednesday, 8 July 2026 21:47 (three months ago)

Amazing! Never seen that before. They really did not enjoy bring on Rough Trade it seems.

― ringworm, Thursday, 9 July 2026 06:32 (three months ago)

one month passes...

Just saw the Buttholes doc at an Alamo theater last night via a livestream from Austin ( I think) with band members and the director afterwards doing a q and a .

Alamo didn’t promote this very well here in the dc area . It’s happening one more time on Friday in dc with a producer being in dc for a q and a.

The amount of sadness and trauma in the film for some reason surprised me, but eh maybe I should wait till more people see it. Ned’s link does cover many of the details for those who did see it.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 25 August 2026 14:45 (two months ago)

It’s worth seeing

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 25 August 2026 14:46 (two months ago)

The movie is 80% laffarama full of puppet-chronicled drug-driven hijinks, followed by 20% of heart-rending tragedy and revelation, an absolute triumph.

― Generalissimo Mitch McConnell is still dead (stevie), Tuesday, 25 August 2026 14:51 (two months ago)

Their chapter in Michael Azerrad's book was the craziest and most startling. The part I remember most though was the harrowing lows where they were literally starving artists.

― birdistheword, Tuesday, 25 August 2026 21:23 (two months ago)

for anyone who hasn't read it, the Kramer interview on them is essential

https://www.thebeliever.net/logger/three-questions-for-kramer/

― Serfin' USA (sleeve), Tuesday, 25 August 2026 21:29 (two months ago)

I wish that Kramer interview was 150,000 words

― a (waterface), Wednesday, 26 August 2026 12:14 (two months ago)

Kramer's interviewed in the doc

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 29 August 2026 01:47 (two months ago)

does he speak 150,000 words

― a (waterface), Monday, 31 August 2026 15:31 (one month ago)

Alas not

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 1 September 2026 02:59 (one month ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iey4W3FxTkY

― Maresn3st, Tuesday, 1 September 2026 08:58 (one month ago)

one month passes...

2026 remasters: pioughd + Humpty Dumpty LSD

https://matadorrecords.com/pages/artists/butthole-surfers

― StanM, Saturday, 17 October 2026 10:22 (one week ago)

Has Matador dicked around with any of the albums besides cutting “Negro Observer?”

― Art Cow (Cow_Art), Saturday, 17 October 2026 11:20 (one week ago)

No, that's the only omission. They did return to the original album format without the EP/bonus tracks that were on previous CDs though.

e.g. pioughd is without the Widowermaker EP tracks, that EP will be released separately later on, I would think. Like how Rembrandt Pussyhorse and Cream Corn From The Socket Of David are separated again, too.

― StanM, Saturday, 17 October 2026 11:40 (one week ago)

DaviS

― StanM, Saturday, 17 October 2026 11:41 (one week ago)

I’ve been listening to Electriclarryland a lot. I totally wrote off “Pepper” at the time but it’s fucking great.

― Art Cow (Cow_Art), Saturday, 17 October 2026 12:02 (one week ago)

love the 13th Floor Elevators cover on Humpty Dumpty LSD

― Listen to the tune after puffing some, it's positively trance-inducing! (stevie), Sunday, 18 October 2026 12:55 (one week ago)

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