Scatological Alchemy: A Gnostic Biography of the Butthole Surfers

by Ben Graham

The Butthole Surfers were one of the most exciting, adventurous and dangerous rock bands to ever exist. Principally active in the 1980s, they emerged from the American post-punk underground but drew on the visceral energy of psychedelia and the intellectual provocation of Dadaism and other 20th century art movements. Their live shows were the stuff of legend, deranged and cathartic multi-media experiences that at times came close to being genuinely life-threatening. Where other bands cultivated a myth of being outlaws and renegades, The Butthole Surfers were the real deal. For years this unhinged Texan collective lived from hand to mouth on the road, existing in and suffering for their art 24/7. The music they made was unhinged and chaotic, but also contained many moments of real beauty and meaning amid the passages of proto-industrial noise, heavy metal parodies, experiments with technology, found sounds and auto-destructive improvisations. Eventually The Butthole Surfers would come to be a major influence on bands like Nirvana and The Flaming Lips and on signing to a major label even had hit singles of their own. But commercial success and The Buttholes were not happy bedfellows, and the pressures of operating within the mainstream music industry tore them apart in a way that the years of poverty, drugs, chaos and madness never could. Scatological Alchemy is an attempt to pull the true significance of The Butthole Surfers legacy from the wreckage. As well as telling the story of their epic adventures on the fringes of culture it looks in-depth at their recorded body of work, extracting possible meanings and resonances from music often dismissed as disposable and absurd (not least by the band themselves) but which has stood the test of time and still stands head and shoulders above their contemporaries in sound-tracking the dreams and nightmares of a generation.

Genres: Music, Biography

133 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

End-of-Year 'Loose Ends Bother Me' Microreview in Three Sentences or Less:

If you know absolutely nothing about the Butthole Surfers and want a light (if often wrong) survey—by all means. There is no harm done, and I think Graham’s intention is pure; his impulse seems genuine in preserving the band as the true Texas, pituitary-fucked, psychedelic warlords they were (and are). The gnostic angle—something I’ve read/explored with more clarity in books about the Dead—is, sadly, undercooked at best, and ultimately the reason I bought the fucking thing in the first place.

[Jimmy Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really disappointing Rock bio by numbers. The research here is just embarrassing. There were some snippets of gold but mostly just a droll regurgitation of facts and the authors unnecessary dissection of every album song by song

[Carlton Duff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admittedly own no Butthole Surfers records, and maybe the information is cursory, but I enjoyed the read.

[John Cumming · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read for sure, but I did buy this book as someone familiar with the bands work, so to find that a significant proportion of the book appeared to be lengthy album reviews was a bit disappointing. The book is well written and had me laughing at many points, but I don’t think it provided more insight into such a unique band, which I was after.

[mr s mccaig · Rating 5 out of 5]

For lovers of the buttholes. A great read.

I always loved this band's early work but was unfamiliar with a lot of their later stuff. This book is a great insight into what made these guys produce some of the most psychotic music ever made.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad read, seems as though it was written by a fan, as opposed to someone who had intimate insight, and access to the band. I was after more stories and excess and debauchery.