My first glimpse of the Butthole Surfers was in a sweaty, packed club in downtown Austin. The drummers (note plural) were pounding fiercely and Gibby Haynes was screaming ceaselessly. I had never experienced anything quite like it. The band's records have never had quite the same visceral impact as that show, but they are still a trip. Butthole music - especially their initial releases - challenged the most basic assumptions of rock. They also shouldn't be taken too seriously; some of their legendary shock tactics (projecting videos of actual surgeries, for instance) are little more than extended inside jokes.

In the late 1990's the band gained control of their early catalog and reissued the albums on their own label. These discs (Psychic...Powerless/Cream Corn, Rembrandt Pussyhorse, Locust Abortion Technician, and Hairway To Steven) as well as their Capitol albums (Pioughd, Independent Worm Saloon, and Electric Larryland) are important releases not just within the local scene but within the framework of avant garde and independent music in the post-punk age. All the other stuff you'll read about (EPs, live albums, etc.) is out-of-print and/or nonessential.