After The Astronaut

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After The Astronaut is the ninth studio album by American rock band Butthole Surfers, finally released on June 26, 2026, by Sunset Boulevard Records after nearly three decades in l imbo. Originally recorded as the intended 1998 follow‑up to their mainstream breakthrough Electriclarryland, the album was shelved when Capitol Records pulled it from the schedule in search of a more “commercial” record, and most of its songs were later reworked and issued in different form on Weird Revolution (2001). The 2026 release presents the band’s original vision, newly mixed by guitarist and producer Paul Leary and restored with its intended title and artwork, marking their first new studio album appearance in 25 years and closing the longest gap between studio albums in their career.Musically, After The Astronaut captures Butthole Surfers reacting to late‑1990s grunge and alt‑rock by diving deep into electronics, industrial beats, acid grooves, and trip‑hop‑tinged textures while preserving their noise‑punk and psychedelic sensibilities. Opening with Gibby Haynes’s megaphoned spoken-word call for a “weird revolution,” the album moves through beat‑driven, sometimes sing‑along‑friendly cuts like Intelligent Guy and Jet Fighter, surf‑punk and psych‑rock excursions, and more textural, cinematic pieces such as I Don’t Have a Problem. Tracks like Mexico, Imbuya, Venus, Junkie Jenny in Gaytown, They Came In, and The Last Astronaut round out a 12‑song, roughly 46‑minute program that feels both of its late‑’90s moment—adapting trip‑hop and electronic aesthetics for modern‑rock radio—and firmly rooted in the band’s taste for acid‑spiked absurdity and experimental play with “digital toys.” Show more