“The version of ‘Human Cannonball’ on LIVE AT THE LEATHER FLY is better than the studio version,” contends BUTTHOLE SURFERS’ Paul Leary (guitar/vocals/”art master”) about the second track released from their upcoming live album which will be released on May 9, 2025viaSunset Blvd (pre-order). “There’s just something about the energy that a packed house inspires that is hard to replicate in a recording studio.”
Known especially for their unpredictable, extremely visceral, chaotic live shows, Butthole Surfers channeled much of their abrasive yet tuneful albums into frenetic (and sometimes naked) performances in a fashion very few have been able to match. Live At The Leather Fly unearths 21 tracks from a gig whose origins are shrouded in mystery. The “where” or “when” it was recorded is debatable, but the band have created a mythos surrounding it. “Back in the ‘80s, Gibby [Haynes, vocalist/guitarist] used to fantasize about a nightclub called The Leather Fly. He wanted it to have a stuffed leather fly hanging in front of it,” reminisces Leary about the illusory venue where this show was recorded.
Originally released in studio form on 1987’s Locust Abortion Technician, “Human Cannonball” served as the album debut of Haynes’ “Gibbytronix” effects which distorted his vocals by using delays, pitch-shift, and other sound manipulations to create a very distinctive and unsettling soundscape. The live version adds a heavy dose of sweat-drenched adrenaline, amplifying the band’s hardcore yet extremely musical aesthetics into a frenzy with Haynes’ vocals keeping the energy to breakneck levels.
Following the previously-released “The Annoying Song” that set the stage for the release of this album next month, “Human Cannonball” continues the grittiness of their live sets, which UK’s The Guardian characterized their live shows as “being pummeled by a squealing cacophony of acid-fried psychedelic noise-rock, as a man tripping wildly in his underpants screams at you through a megaphone.” Dean Ween of the band Ween agrees, calling them “the greatest live band of my lifetime.”
Emerging from the 1980s hardcore scene, Butthole Surfers was formed by Gibby and Paul while in college in San Antonio, Texas. Bonding over a shared distaste for mainstream music, Butthole Surfers traipsed through the music industry, always in the fringes. Championed by Dead Kennedys, Nirvana, and Orbital and compatriots of Scratch Acid, Flipper and Big Black, they remained a fixture in the music scene’s counterculture. In a moment of mainstream acceptance (they scored a #1 Modern Rock Hit with “Pepper”), the band always embraced the obtuse and the obstinate. Though the band has never quite broken up, their legacy still inspires other acts, including Gwar, Flaming Lips, Jane’s Addiction, White Zombie, Monster Magnet, Primus and dozens more.
Butthole Surfers is Gibby Haynes (vocals, guitar), Paul Leary (guitar, vocals, “art master”), Jeff Pinkus (bass, vocals), and King Coffey (drums). LIVE AT THE LEATHER FLYwas mixed by Paul Leary and mastered by Gene Grimaldi (Johnny Cash, Lady Gaga, Rancid) at Oasis Mastering. It will be released on May 9. 2025viaSunset Blvd and can be pre-ordered here: https://sunsetblvdrecords.ffm.to/liveattheleatherfly.
