Cherubs - Heroin Man (2023 Reissue) (Green Edition) (Cassette)

Heroin Man stands as both the chronological center of the CHERUBS catalog, and its defining moment. As one of noise rock's finest moments, Heroin Man is both a delicate, tragic statement and send-off to a friend who had OD'd, and a bellowing, roaring, over-amped screwball masterpiece of BUTTHOLE SURFERS mayhem and HUSKER DU pop structures. It's sometimes difficult to distinguish between Kevin Whitley's guitar and Owen McMahon's bass, and that's precisely the point -- this is noise rock; and still at others, Whitley's guitar is a washing, white-noise counterpoint to the pummeling rhythm section. This is a dense, sprawling, spiraling work showing a band peaking aesthetically, with perhaps an even more ambitious album to follow. Unfortunately, due to the usual host of reasons, that never occurred. This was the CHERUBS final studio album until their reformation 20+ years later.