Search - Butterfingers :: Butterfingers

For enthusiasts mainly

Alastair McLean | Wellington, New Zealand | 09/02/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"German label Shadoks specialise in re-releasing the most obscure psychedelic and progessive music of the late 60's/early 70's. They manage to dig up items that have only ever existed as test pressings or limited issues from all corners of the world and pump them out on vinyl and CD. How they do this would make a great story in itself, but you'd need to ask them about that. All I know about Butterfingers is that it was originally only ever released as a handful of test pressings in the early 70's. The hype from the label says it sounds like a tough version of Big Brother and the Holding Company with a male Janis Joplin sound-alike as a singer. I'd go along with the Big Brother comparison, but the singer sounds more like Screamin' Jay Hawkins to me, except without the humour.
There is some fairly gritty guitar playing on the 10 songs present, but some of the tracks sound unfinished and there are a few that were obviously run-throughs that somehow made it as final takes. And at 31 minutes total length you have to feel a bit cheated. Rarity doesn't make up for brevity in my book, especially not at the price Shadoks charge for their stuff. The best track on this is one called 5 O'clock Trip which is the most together and rocking, and the fist track Key has some tasteful (honest!) sitar playing on it. The cover art is a great Robert Crumb cartoon in the same style as Cheap Thrills by Big Brother.
Overall I was a bit dissappointed, having swallowed the whole male Janis Joplin thing. With Shadoks it pays to take the hyperbole with a bunch of salt. Having said that though, Shadoks have issued some great stuff so don't be put off by this. If you like the heavy side of psychedelic music try Shiver. Now that's a rare, heavy psych monster!"