In 1998, when Butthole Surfers prepared to follow up their 1996 breakout Electriclarryland with a new album titled After the Astronaut, their major label abruptly pulled the plug, deeming the record insufficiently “commercial.” It was a baffling expectation to begin with—anyone familiar with the band’s unpredictable catalog would’ve known better than to anticipate another “Pepper,” their unlikely Modern Rock chart-topper. As a result, After the Astronaut was shelved and slipped into legend—until now, with Sunset Blvd. finally set to release the long-mythologized album on June 26, 2026.
“We were pretty stoked to make another album after the success of our previous album and its single ‘Pepper’,” recalls guitarist Paul Leary. “Capitol Records was stoked to get that next record until our relationship soured.” After some legal wrangling, Butthole Surfers were released from the major label’s roster and their contract was sold. “Hollywood Records bought the album but wanted to make changes to it which was an uncomfortable experience for us,” he notes (the reconfigured and reworked album was eventually released as Weird Revolution in 2001). “Now we have the right to release the original recording the way we intended it to be with its original title, After The Astronaut.”
First single “Jet Fighter” finds the band in a surf-punk mood, exploring lo-fi dadaist psych rock filtered through a thrift store PA system, which originated, as Leary remembers, “when I purchased a 12-string electric guitar and wanted to play it.” It’s the unnatural progression of the anti-mainstream pop song that fit perfectly in the oddball late ‘90s aesthetic. An anti-war protest song that, while originally written decades ago, echoes a sentiment that can be applied today, Gibby sings about Mikey who enlisted in the military and “He got into the cockpit and rose up in the sky / Set his sights on Beirut and he let his missiles fly / Boom, Boom!”
Butthole Surfers on After The Astronaut is Gibby Haynes (vocals, synths), Paul Leary (lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards), and King Coffey (drum machines). After the Astronaut was produced by Paul Leary, engineered by Stuart Sullivan (Meat Puppets, Sublime) at Arlyn Recording Studio, mixed by Paul Leary at Preacher Mon Studio, and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Herbie Hancock, Beastie Boys, Nirvana). It will be released on June 26, 2026 via Sunset Blvd. with original art by Paul Leary and Gibby Haynes.
