In Praise Of: The Jackofficers "Digital Dump"

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This, of course, was Gibby Haynes and Jeff Pinkus of the Butthole Surfers doing their electronic side project. It was a one-off album of extreme synth/computer wankitude (by their own happy admission) released via Rough Trade in 1990, during the one year the B-holes were on that label (and was able to release Pioughd that same year). The album is still shockingly easy to find used, CD or vinyl, for just dollars.

I listened to the album the other day and was pleasently surprised at how well it has kept up.. or maybe this is just a more pathetic testament to today's current low-budj trashy electronic aesthetic catching up to the, um, talents of said Surfers who, more or less, churned this album out one weekend out of boredom. (And I'm guessing this album wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the Butthole Surfers' gig for MTV around that time doing the in-between MTV logo/intermission music and why they might had access to the equipment.. similar to Jim Thirlwell's gig for doing the MTV sports show music for a while, if he still does it.. but this is all conjecture.)

Anyway, "Time Machines Pt. 1" and "Time Machines Pt. 2" are definitely strong tracks here, the former being a small funny sampling montage involving M/A/R/R/S, the Ollie North/Iran Contra hearings coverage, various weird cartoon music, and other grating sounds they could churn out using synths. "Love-O-Maniac" and "L.A. Mama Peanut Butter" sound like extremely obese butt music... it just doesn't get any more humungous butt than this. Best track is easily "Swingers Club", where the din of buzzing and contorting fucked of synth sounds makes Zorn's most ambitious sax wanking sound like mellow high school jazz club finger snapping in comparison. And the mellower moments help to round the album out.. like "An Hawaiian Christmas Song".

It all sounds really cheap and perhaps dated in a dawn-of-90s-MTV kinda way, but it still holds up as an entertaining album all the way through.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 12 April 2004 01:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Heh, haven't thought about this in a long time. Think I'll listen to it now!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 April 2004 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, man, I always liked it. I bought mine for 88cents!!

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Monday, 12 April 2004 01:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Turns out I kept the sticker that appeared on the plastic longbox case -- remember them?

"This recording features Giddy and Jeff of the Butthole Surfers. They just wanted us to put this sticker on here to let ya'll know that it don't sound like their other group, but we're all sure you'll love it anyway."

Paul Leary recorded/released The History of Dogs at around the same time, I think.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:00 (twenty-one years ago)

And according to the AMG review (which I didn't do), Pinkus said "someone even paid the duo good money to push play on the tape deck on stage in Europe for a two-week tour in support."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I never heard The History of Dogs

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:05 (twenty-one years ago)

And according to the AMG review (which I didn't do), Pinkus said "someone even paid the duo good money to push play on the tape deck on stage in Europe for a two-week tour in support."

!!! Then what the hell did the two do on stage?? Sit there contemplatively?

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:06 (twenty-one years ago)

C'mon, man, if they paid you to do that, wouldn't you?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I've seen worse gigs, I'll tell you that.

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, today, I would. People love paying to watch people do homework on their laptops today.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:14 (twenty-one years ago)

See, like you were saying, they WERE the forerunners of 'today's current low-budj trashy electronic aesthetic.'

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:15 (twenty-one years ago)

And yeah, it's an enjoyably ridiculous album.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:16 (twenty-one years ago)

i had a friend who worked at a venue in switzerland--they had some laptop people playing one night, and one of the members of the staff was curious as to what EXACTLY the two dudes were doing on their laptops up there on stage. he snuck around and got a peak from backstage--they were playing doom!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:23 (twenty-one years ago)

see, the Jackofficers had to horribly soil themselves on stage and probably had to pretend to be pressing buttons and make weird faces to the noises they were making. They didn't have it easy like today's laptop hoodlums.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 12 April 2004 03:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I liked this album when it came out. I was listening to a lot of Buttholes stuff and that Psychic TV Infinite Beat stuff and this kinda slipped in somewhere in between. I remember thinking the cover art was pretty hi tech looking at the time.

Great name too!

― hector (hector), Monday, 12 April 2004 03:26 (twenty-one years ago)

OMG I used to love this.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 12 April 2004 03:29 (twenty-one years ago)

And then what happened, young man? None of this 'maturity' stuff now.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 April 2004 03:34 (twenty-one years ago)

It's obvious. They sold it back. Which is why we were able to get our copies back for $3 after we sold ours back, too. um... FUCK YEAH.. *high fucking five*

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 12 April 2004 03:42 (twenty-one years ago)

(actually, i never sold mine back.. probably because i knew I would get 25 cents for it at most)

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 12 April 2004 03:44 (twenty-one years ago)

"Buying used CDs is a MAN'S job, brah!"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 April 2004 03:45 (twenty-one years ago)

History Of Dogs holds up pretty well, too. And it has much better cover art than Digital Dump.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Monday, 12 April 2004 12:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Heh. I just sold this disc last month.a

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 12 April 2004 12:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish I had a copy. This sounded great up against PWEI when I first heard it 17 years ago, and it still sounded good up against We and Byzar when I heard it again 8 years ago. I always regretted spending my student loan on the History of Dogs instead.

churned this album out one weekend out of boredom

Yes, clearly a major inspiration behind later Boredoms/Hanatarashi

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Monday, 12 April 2004 14:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, I sold it back, along with the Revolting Cocks album! I miss them now...;)

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 12 April 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh man. Which RevCo album? I'm going to have to dig those out tonight..

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 12 April 2004 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, like mentioned above, it's probably sitting somewhere lonely a block away from you guys in some random music store for no more than pocket change if you ever want it back.

Ironically, I'm about to sell back my Revco CDs too (not without backing them up.) The biggest mistake Revco ever made was NOT putting the Benign version of "You Often Forget" on their Bigsexyland CD issue. There was plenty of space for it, and it's clearly their best track ever. (not that you still can't find the 12" easily these days, but still, come on)

I still have Digital Dump in my head right now. "they say that ollie north.... was doing a little hanky panky..... with his secretary..... you know i got a beautiful secretary, and the good lord gave her the gift of beauty."

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 12 April 2004 17:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh man. Which RevCo album?

Beers, Steers, & Queers!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 12 April 2004 17:16 (twenty-one years ago)

...a disc I shall never part with.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 12 April 2004 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

"Get Down" is the only thing I listen to on that album anymore, I have to admit. It's like a Loop song with a great dancey drum machine backdrop with Ogre on vocals. and it goes on for 13 minutes or so. With the exception of "Stainless Steel Providers" and the title track, I can't even remember the rest of the record.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 12 April 2004 17:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I kind of miss both of these CDs. I've sold so much stuff over the years.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 12 April 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

ten months pass...

Listened to it again recently.. still stand by my review.. (mainly triggered by the recent Butts thread)

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 3 March 2005 02:07 (twenty years ago)

I love how I looked at the thread title and immediately knew its provenance

― Morley Timmons (Donna Brown), Thursday, 3 March 2005 04:23 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

Why do I keep coming back to this album?

Oh. Right.

― donut debonair (donut), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 23:25 (twenty years ago)

It is love.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 00:09 (twenty years ago)

I can't wait for the DELUXE reissue edition of this.. you know, all those, um, outtakes.. and remixes.

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 02:25 (twenty years ago)

"oooh, i can almost hear jeff press play on the tape deck on this version of 'Do it'!"

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 02:27 (twenty years ago)

Although, this album has made me come to realization:

How come masturbatory music is the music you'd least want to listen to as you actually masturbate?

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 02:27 (twenty years ago)

I mean, fuck. Coil's "How To Destroy Angels". That's a FUCKING album.. meant for at least two people! Not meant to be used "for onanistic purposes" as the liner notes claim. I wouldn't want this record NEAR ME if I was jacking off!

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 02:28 (twenty years ago)

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