Butthole Surfers - Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac (1984), 8/10

One of the quintessential experimental rock records, Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac broke through barriers and fully established the band’s sublimely unstable sound coming from Texas and the hardcore punk scene. Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary founded the band and led the creative charge, providing the group’s original humor and specific brand of insanity. As an example, way back in 1984 "Lady Sniff" served as a precursor to Primus's 90s flavor of grime and muck. This album specifically is a precursor to a lot of 90s tropes but stands independently as a successful punk experiment with various sounds and styles such as blues, country and predominately surf rock mixed with punk. The eccentric use of tape would be expanded on in future releases, but is already scathing and effectual, displaying a surprising advancement and maturation in sound. Not to mention the bullhorn. Gibby and Paul's vocals are a standout in just about every track, backed by utterly unhinged guitar performances. If you’d like to test whether you will enjoy the record quickly, you can simply start with the opener “Concubine” that appropriately combines one of the most satisfyingly ugly vocal performances on the album, accented by the droning rhythm section, and wholly unconstrained guitar from Leary. Of course despite the freedom there is something of an amorphous structure to even the wildest of these songs, some even adhering to rather traditional rockabilly or punk composition styles apart from their manic improvisation thrown on top. This is just about the only way the band could have successfully expanded on the completely unprecedented, insane and violent sound introduced on their self-titled EP. Although things are clearly more psychedelic and surreal, none of their original charm has worn off, if anything it was honed to be even more potent among a stronger set of compositions. There is certainly a primal satisfaction to many of these tracks that supersedes anything else of the era, or practically anything beyond for that matter; it has a timeless emotional appeal to the profane human nature in all of us. Even influence aside, the blending and genre bending compositions, seemingly topping themselves one after the next, are just a pleasure to listen to regardless of their context. Underappreciated and overlooked even in rock circles, perhaps due to its psychobilly foundations or its sheer hideousness, the album itself is intoxicating and beguiling for the brave ear. Wonderfully disturbing and unadulterated, Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac is unmistakably unique and a staple release for progressive, experimental rock music.