Forget the crap dumped on us by the Butthole Surfers for the past decade—the Surfers developed their fanbase in the eighties thanks to some of the most twisted, LSD-friendly, protoplasmic music ever made. "Humpty Dumpty LSD" clumsily collects outtakes and off tracks from the band's, umm, glory days, dating back to a 1984 four-track recording, "Night of the Day." It's not all good (in fact, some just sucks), but old fans will inhale tracks like an extended version of "One Hundred Million People Dead," a sonic maelstrom of echoing vocals and tribal rhythm. "Day of the Dying Alive," a version of "Jimi" made prior to the release of "Hairway to Steven," breaks the song into a nearly lo-fi dirtbomb, with Gabby's distorted, slowed-down vocals keeping the psychedelic distortion levels way up. The highlight: "All Day," originally from the "Texas Trip" compilation, is like an excursion through a schizophrenic's head, complete with paranoia-inducing clatters, sound-level jumps and downright terrifying vocal leaps and plunges. (Dave Chamberlain)

Also by Dave Chamberlain

TIP OF THE WEEK
The main drawing point for High on Fire is Matt Pike, former guitarist for the lumbering doom giant Sleep. (For those not in the know, Sleep was the slowest, most bludgeoning of the early nineties doom/stoner metalists; the band's final record, "Jerusalem," is a one-song, fifty-minute opus to smoking weed.)
(2002-07-11)

RAW MATERIAL
To make the dates extra special, the boys in STLJ coerced the defunct Lustre King to accompany them for their final two hometown appearances. "They were kind of our mates for a while," says Sweep drummer Scott Anna.
(2002-07-11)

TIP OF THE WEEK
Two men, a guitar, drums and songs that hurtle off the record with all the subtlety of a runaway train—that's Modey Lemon, a duo of blood 'n' guts rockers from Pittsburgh who do the two-man band thing as well as anybody out there.
(2002-07-04)

RAW MATERIAL
"Punking Out" is a grainy, black-and-white documentary about New York's CBGB's in the seventies, and features live footage from Richard Hell and the Voivods, Ramones and Dead Boys.
(2002-07-04)

TIP OF THE WEEK
(2002-06-27)

RAW MATERIAL
(2002-06-27)

TIP OF THE WEEK
(2002-06-20)

RAW MATERIAL
(2002-06-20)

TIP OF THE WEEK
(2002-06-13)

RAW MATERIAL
(2002-06-13)

TIP OF THE WEEK
(2002-06-06)

NONFICTION REVIEW
(2002-06-06)