Gibby Haynes & His Problem
self-titled (Surfdog Records)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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It's probably a good thing I'm not married to some crazy musician with serious substance abuse problems, just because I'd probably be the worst type of enabler. I'd be like, "Honey, I like the new music you're writing now okay, but ever since you got out of recovery, you just don't sound like you. Where's the brilliant guy who wrote [blank]? I don't know, dear. Maybe you're just not trying as hard as you used to."

I really hope I wouldn't be that kind of wife, because that's just an unpleasant way to be to one you're supposed to love and care for, but I do know I'm that kind of critic. My tastes in musicians' works could be divided up into "Before" and "After" sections, as in "Before" and "After" checking into the Betty Ford Clinic. At least 75% of the time, the "Before" music is far superior to the "After" stuff, with just a few exceptions.

Unfortunately for fans of manic-inducing music that makes the hair on your back stand way up on end, the same can be said for the new release from former Butthole Surfers lead vocalist Gibby Haynes. Now performing as Gibby Haynes and his Problem, Gibby's gone from singing creepy songs about even creepier people living in one's cellar or smoking Elvis' toenails to these silly, pleasant-sounding pop songs about LOVE, for crissakes! And it's sad, because I know for a fact that if I had never spent a whole evening contemplating exactly how the blood moves from Point A to Point B in my body, or drawn straws at camp to decide who was going to be the official Guardian of the Fire, or other pointless, wasted events in my life that invariably used Butthole Surfers' music as a soundtrack, I'd just love this album.

[Pick this up at www.surfdog.com.]

© 2004 - Holly Day