Heroin Man stands as both the chronological center of the
Cherubs catalog, and it's 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 other's,
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.