Butthole Surfers – Hairway To Steven LP

‘Cream Corn’ plucked two tunes from ‘Rembrandt’ and added a couple new ones that had been recorded on their home studio 8 track in Winterville Georgia. “Moving to Florida” (the best example ever of what Beefheart probably sounded like when he’s tripping) and the other three tracks blew peoples’ minds by being so precise and fully-messed-up at the same time. ‘Cream Corn’ was a perfect bite-sized taster for what would follow.

From the opening track, “Sweat Loaf,” which quotes Black Sabbath with results both hilarious and bowel-stomping, to the scuzz-guitar riven “found” vocals of “22 Going on 23,” ‘Locust Abortion Technician.’ is a non-stop face-full of hallucinogenic gas. Maniacal sludge guitar figures and Gibbytronix vocals are smeared everywhere, with most excellent results. For many folks. ‘Locust’ represents the album with which the Buttholes fully fulfilled their insane potential.

‘Hairway to Steven’ is a blast, ranging from the blood-smeared guitar-overload of “Jimi” to the acoustic guitar-based sing-along sweetness of “I Saw an X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas” to the Fugs-like ranting of “John E. Smokes.” Yet, for all its strangeness, ‘Hairway’ got rave notices in places that had never paid the band any attention previously. It was the Buttholes’ last album of the ‘80s and marks the beginning of their ascendance into something akin to commercial success. Not that the band actually imagined anything at all like that occurring.

Label: Matador – OLE2059LP

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue

Country: Europe

Released: 2024

Genre: Rock

Style: Alternative Rock

Tracklist

A1 Jimi

A2 Ricky

A3 I Saw An X-Ray Of A Girl Passing Gas

B1 John E. Smoke

B2 Rocky

B3 Julio Iglesias

B4 Backass

B5 Fast Song