Paul Leary - The History of Dogs (91)

Taking a hiatus from his Butthole Surfer bandmates, Paul Leary seizes the spotlight by taking over all the instrumental and vocal duties on The History of Dogs. An apocalyptic and paranoid song cycle, rife with B-movie horror and Gulf War references that tend to date themselves to the album's 1991 release, Leary has little of Gibby Haynes' wit or flair as a lyricist. Delivering his nonsensical and occasionally sophomoric verse with a falsetto that is equal parts Tiny Tim and John Lydon, Leary occasionally approaches the visceral drive of the Surfers in tracks like "Apollo One" and "He's Working Overtime." The strangely orchestral tones of "The Birds Are Dying" and "Fine Home" are triumphs in production but do little to distract the listener from his largely vague and nonsensical verse. Of course, it doesn't take an avid Butthole Surfer fan to find some humor in a song like "Indians Storm the Government," but for those who think they may fall outside of that classification, this disc comes without a strong recommendation.

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