Butthole Surfers

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• Genre: Indie/Alternative
• Hometown: Austin
• Butthole Surfers Website

About

Butthole Surfers formed in the late '70s in San Antonio, Tex., when Gibby Haynes met guitarist Paul Leary at Trinity University. They were about the most subversively experimental U.S. band throughout the '80s, despite a pervasive idea that they were just a bunch of drug-addled jokers. While crass and disturbing humor was a big part of their identity, few bands made music so extreme. They seamlessly combined hardcore punk, heavy metal, space jams and even indie rock into an utterly singular art-rock concoction. On top of this, they crammed unheard-of levels of psychedelic effects into their songs, often successfully re-creating the confusing jumble of sound heard during various drug trips, to which they were legendarily dedicated. From 1981 to 1991, the Buttholes steadily released music on the underground and built a reputation for total chaos at their live shows. A previously unthinkable notion, they signed to Capitol in '91 and shockingly scored a No. 1 hit on the rock charts with "Pepper" in 1996. In 1999, they split with Capitol, gaining ownership of the bulk of their early material, which they then reissued. In 2001, they released Weird Revolution on Hollywood Records.

- Mike McGuirk