AARON TANNER – BUTTHOLE SURFERS: WHAT DOES REGRET MEAN?
MELODIC VIRTUE
BOOK REVIEW BY MERRY MERCURIAL
Set to the color scheme of ’80s high-top sneakers, this keepsake book kicks off with a romantic vibe reserved for young crushes on weirdo punk rock phenomena. The tone throughout — an exclamation mark in 72-point, puke-green font — encapsulates the mind-blown glory you could experience only in the days when you knew jack shit about your favorite band until you saw them live.
Mickey Melchiondo of Ween is in-your-face, up-your-nose fun in his intro, a decree on the inseparability of drugs and the best of ’80s rock. The rest of the book is a scrapbook or a ransom note — hard to say — that memorabilia fans will cherish and probably use to scare away door-to-door missionaries. Among the testimonials from those who loved, emulated, gawked at, performed with, or bunked with the Buttholes, becoming physically ill at their shows is a recurring theme.
They’re the only band that sent Dale Crover of the Melvins reeling from the room. Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age had to shower after seeing them. Neko Case praises them for defying Reagan-era punk machismo by playing to freaks everywhere. And Bob Gorman of GWAR wraps it up well by calling the Butthole Surfers “the closest thing to drugs without drugs I have ever known.”
If you’ve ever felt the need to dash for the commode or drink a bucket of coffee to sober up after listening to a Butthole Surfers album, well, welcome to the coffee-table equivalent of that.
About Butthole Surfers
One of the most depraved acts from the American underground, the Butthole Surfers were formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, TX in 1981. Along with King Coffey, Teresa Nervosa, and Jeff Pinkus, their disturbing albums and chaotic live shows have featured everything from psychedelia and noise rock to country and electronica.
Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean? is a fully authorized visual history of the band with never-before-seen photos, artwork, and other memorabilia and from the viewpoint of their contemporaries. It features an introduction by Mickey Melchiondo (Ween) and exclusive interviews from Rob Zombie, Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Eric Avery (Jane’s Addiction), Steven Drozd (The Flaming Lips), Al Jourgensen (Ministry), Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stone Age), Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich(Pavement), Neko Case, Dale Crover (Melvins), Eric Wilson (Sublime), Henry Rollins, Daniel Johnston, Cris Kirkwood and Derrick Bostrom (Meat Puppets), Steven McDonald (Redd Kross), Berserker Blotharand Balsac The Jaws of Death (GWAR), David Yow (Jesus Lizard), and many more!
This book also contains a flexi disc of the unreleased track, “Locust Abortion Technician Medley” (originally intended as the B-side for the proposed “Human Cannonball” 7″ single).
ISBN – 978-0-578-41625-0
Pre-Order Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean? Via Melodic Virtue HERE
