Cris Kirkwood was seriously suspicious the band fucked their dog. Daniel Johnston remains certain they were satanic. Their live show made Melvins drummer Dale Crover physically ill. Then and now, the notoriety that precedes one’s introduction to the Butthole Surfers falls short of the brilliantly demented experience that follows.: That’s made clear in What Does Regret Mean?, a new 300-page Butthole Surfers art book stuffed with bewildering photos, flyers, zine clippings, and star-studded testimonials. Both Jesus Lizard/Scratch Acid frontman David Yow and Black Flagger Henry Rollins declare that the Texas gang were one of the best live bands ever. Still, forwarder Dean Ween offers the most apt endorsement:: “My Grateful Dead – a band worth driving anywhere to see, and I did just that for the next 10 years. My generation’s spokesmen – a completely uncompressed band that I could stand behind. If I saw a dude wearing a Buttholes shirt, that was enough for me to ask if they were holding any drugs or offer up my own.”: “The themes that prevailed were that, ‘The shows were the most intense anyone had ever seen’ and that, ‘The band gave other musicians of that era the courage to be free and experiment,’” explains the compendium’s curator, Aaron Tanner.: A noted poster artist and designer, Tanner got authorization from Paul Leary to craft this visual history of the Butthole Surfers. After a year of unearthing images, collecting quotes, and laying it out, the 1,500-run hardcover hits the market Friday with a Waterloo Records booksigning featuring band members Leary, King Coffey, Jeff Pinkus, and Teresa Taylor.: The kind of book you can read in an hour and enjoy for a lifetime, What Does Regret Mean? deserves placement on any Butthole Surfers fan’s coffee table – or, at least, the back of their shitter.
Fri., March 22, 7pm