Cream Corn Surfing

I know, I know.
Butt hey, it is the best of the bunch. And I'm really posting this for its wonderful cover art.
And together with this U.K. cover; this is the perfect package.

I'm not sure how available this was elsewhere, butt in Britain it is one of the more sought after pieces of Surfers' vinyl.

And what a cover!
Who she is; I have no idea. Butt who cares!
She is wonderful; and I'm glad to own a little piece of her.

So much better than the U.S. package:

Leary chose this image while looking through some photos at his dealer's house. Apparently.

As for the story behind the alternative U.K. cover; well I don't know it, but if anyone does know anything...

I mean, if it is your Nan or something...
Recorded after the band had put Rembrandt Pussyhorse together in 1985, Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis was quickly assembled and released due to their album being held up by legal problems; something that dogged the band throughout their career.

Well, we can't all be Sting, right.

'To Parter' is one of the greatest Surfers' songs ever recorded. Leary's picking is superb and tight, butt still managing to retain the Surfers' spontaneous spirit.

The title really comes from the fact that it is two tracks, the first an instrumental, somewhat reminiscent of the Magic Band on a good day; and the second a warped kind of sea shanty with Haynes performing some of his greatest lyrics:

'And all the sailors who were junkies
All went sailing out to sea,
And the white man sold quaaludes to the monkeys,
And they all died high up in the trees

And all the teachers who were flunkies
They all taught you and me,
And the white men, I'll be goddamned if they're
still selling quaaludes to the monkeys,
And they're all you and me dying high up in the trees'

I once heard 'Moving to Florida' described as the most annoying piece of music ever recorded.
It is obviously intentionally humorous. Butt the speaker did have a point.
Haynes does start to become infuriating, so much so its as if the rest of the band lose patience with him, and just decide to play over the top of his insistent 'Seasick Steve' kind of ramblings (see I can be topical!).

'Comb' begins with animal sounds created by a feed-backing guitar, juxtaposed with Haynes retching (he liked to include a barf, 'Lady Sniff' from Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac features the sound of a right good chuck hitting the toilet pan); he then seems to go on and rant about Lou Reed, through the medium of Gibbytronix, of course.

'Tornadoes' is aptly titled as it delineates in sound just that: a tornado.
Butt it's a kind of psychobilly tornado... predicting a sound they would go on to explore on in their 88 release Hairway to Steven.

I think this is one of their best packages; not as bombastic or as shambolic as their first e.p. butt actually proving that as a band they were a pretty hot outfit, and a world away from any of the material they would go on to release post-88.

This e.p. was really the beginning of the end.

Butthole Surfers - Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis (1985)

Moving to Florida
Comb
To Parter
Tornadoes

Ripped from vinyl @ 256kbs

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