Gibby Haynes: Gibby Haynes and His Problem

Warm summer, top down, driving off to nowhere low-edge rock music with all the outlandish and absurd lyrics you would expect from the former Butthole Surfers frontman’s solo debut. Stripped down production, light use of sampling and Haynes’s trademark megaphoned-in vocal style make short work of today’s alternative scene, going forward from behind instead of just backward. Haynes’s record, while boasting an obvious early surf rock influence, isn’t content to awkwardly put itself out of context in the hope of being some ironic joke or anti-statement. Rather, Gibby Haynes and His Problem (produced by His Problem) is an album that pushes the alternative envelope into spacey and subdued territory, and the result, even on straight up rockers like “Charlie” and the outwardly hilarious “Redneck Sex,” is a moody and exciting work that, if given proper attention, could be the soundtrack for many an acid trip to come.