Psychic… Powerless… Another Man's Sac is the first full‐length studio album by American noise rock band Butthole Surfers, released in December 1984 by Touch and Go Records and Fundamental Records.
The band embarked on a decidedly more psychedelic direction with their first LP. However, while the album's first half, and in particular “Cherub,” have definite psychedelic qualities, elements of traditional punk, blues, surf rock , and country rock are also on display.
Review:
The Surfers' Touch and Go debut remains their highlight for many fans, an
inspired blast of ugly noise, knowing idiocy, drugged-out insanity and some
backhanded surprises. Haynes is still relatively interpretable here; the vocal
distortions are only on a few songs, like the opening “Concubine,” and what
one can't quite understand one can still sense. The band's self-production
brings out the mighty rumbles of drummers Coffey and Nervosa and
Leary's avant-junkyard guitar work with clarity and a big, thick punch. Leary
begins with screwy blues and gentle strums, then cranks up the amps and lets
fly. The band also officially recorded their semi-theme song “Butthole
Surfer,” after which they were accidentally named; the bizarro backing vocals
and sudden sped-up shifts at the end are just part of the oddities on display.
“Negro Observer” is one of the most straightforward, calmest songs of the
bunch, and even that's saying something, with Haynes going off about the title
characters – described as aliens coming to “count heads in singles
bars” – like a barely stable street crazy, insane laughter and all. When it
comes to full-on craziness, though, nothing beats the obscene “Lady Sniff,”
which sounds like an amped-up blues act fronted by a 100-year-old man, and the
hallucinatory “Mexican Caravan,” with Haynes raving about “that heroin
BROWN!” The nods to rock history are subtle but present, from the Black
Sabbath-quoting (specifically “Children of the Grave”) opening rhythm of
“Dum Dum” to the fried Tex/Mex-ranting of “Gary Floyd,” written about
the legendary Dicks bandleader. However, The Surfers' crazy blend is completely
distinctive, taking punk and the inspiration of their acid-addled Texas
forebears to new heights.
Ned Raggett, AllMusic.com