# BUTTHOLE SURFERS *Finally* Release The Mythical “After The Astronaut”

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/
- Published: 2026-06-30T08:00:00-05:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

“If you listen to early Nirvana stuff, that kind of chaos came from [Kurt Cobain]’
s love of the Butthole Surfers.” – **Dave Grohl, Nirvana/Foo Fighters**

“Butthole Surfers created this sonic visual world that you went into and it was 
completely absorbing. I remember being hypnotized and lost in it.”- **Flea, Red 
Hot Chili Peppers**

“There is a kind of before and after when you wander into a Butthole Surfers show.
That is a changing point in your life. It’s like holy f***.” – **Richard Linklater,
director**

### **BUTTHOLE SURFERS⏎ Finally Release_AFTER THE ASTRONAUT_

#### **Out 󠀁[NOW](https://us.list-manage.com/G0QHuCuEbsd?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)󠁿 _via _Sunset Blvd.**

**JUNE 26, 2026 [New York, NY] — **For an album that was supposed to come out in
1998 but was, at the last minute, pulled from the release schedule because it wasn’t“
commercial” enough, **_AFTER THE ASTRONAUT _**is finally seeing the light of day,
allowing musical provocateurs **BUTTHOLE SURFERS **to have the last laugh.  Released
today, **June 26, 2026 **[_via_ **Sunset Boulevard**](https://us.list-manage.com/18N_kWvBw5z?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb),
their ninth album has fans and critics alike reveling in the album that almost wasn’t.

Iconic tome CREEM in its extensive feature called it “abrasive dadaist post-punk,
dosed with brown acid, sarcasm walking hand-in-hand with sincerity. And man, it 
was really _fucking good _if you got it.” FLOOD celebrated how ahead of the musical
curve they were by praising, “It turns out that their lost masterpiece [_After the
Astronaut_] wasn’t lost at all—Butthole Surfers were just waiting for the world 
to intersect with its inflexible, interstellar-surfing orbit.” Not to be outdone,
SPIN proclaimed, “The Butthole Surfers are living legends, and now they’re back,
sort of…” 

Never before released, the mythical, shelved album comes at a pivotal time for the
band. Coupled with a complementary and equally-celebrated music documentary **_The
Hole Truth and Nothing Butt_**, Butthole Surfers are enjoying a renewed rearview-
mirror focus. Originally planned as the follow-up to their unexpected mainstream
breakthrough _Electric Larryland_ which spawned a chart-topping single “[Pepper](https://us.list-manage.com/c0At9ZciT_8?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb),”
_After the Astronaut _didn’t make it past the advance-cassette-to-sent-journalists
phase before being pulled off the release schedule for not being more like that 
hit.

Butthole Surfers - Intelligent Guy (Official Video)

[⌊Butthole Surfers - Intelligent Guy (Official Video)⌉⌊Butthole Surfers - Intelligent
Guy (Official Video)⌉
Watch this video on YouTube

“We were pretty stoked to make another album after the success of our previous album
and ‘Pepper’,” recalls guitarist **Paul Leary.** “Capitol Records was stoked to 
get that next record… until our relationship soured.” 

[⌊Butthole Surfers⌉⌊Butthole Surfers⌉[

**Butthole Surfers **([hi-res](https://us.list-manage.com/zPYd5_Fa57b?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb))

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_.”

With three singles released, “**Jet Fighter**,” “**Imbuya**,” and “**Intelligent
Guy**” (which put the band **back on radio charts at #3 **on the SubModern format),
_After the Astronaut_ is being showered with new accolades. _NPR_ affiliate KXT 
says, “The 12-track effort sounds as arresting and ferocious as it must have in 
the late 1990s — songs like ‘Jet Fighter,’ ‘Venus’ and ‘Imbuya’ throb with a bristling
creative anarchy.” 

Far Out Magazine hails, “Wielding hip-hop shuffle, sampling psych and teeming electronic
gurgle, _After the Astronaut _points to where the Butthole Surfers could have artistically
headed, while also serving as a fitting close to their chaotic waver between the
punk underground and pop mainstream.” 

SoundSphere adds, “Built around Paul Leary’s jagged guitar work, King Coffey’s mechanical
drum programming and Gibby Haynes’ surreal stream-of-consciousness lyricism, [_After
the Astronaut_] feels as unhinged and unpredictable as ever.”

Emerging from the 1980s hardcore scene, Butthole Surfers was formed by Haynes and
Leary while in college in San Antonio, Texas. Bonding over a shared  distaste for
mainstream music, Butthole Surfers traipsed through the music industry, always in
the fringes. Championed by **Dead Kennedys**, **Nirvana**, and **Orbital **and compatriots
of **Scratch Acid**, **Flipper **and **Big Black**, they remained a fixture in the
music scene’s counterculture.

In a moment of mainstream acceptance (they scored a #1 Modern Rock Hit with “[Pepper](https://us.list-manage.com/tqzAbJfRbu_?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)”),
the band always embraced the obtuse and the obstinate. Though the band has never
quite broken up, their legacy still inspires other acts, including **Gwar**, **Flaming
Lips**, **Jane’s Addiction**, **White Zombie**, **Monster Magnet**, **Primus **and
dozens more.

**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_). [_After the Astronaut _is finally out now **June 26, 2026 **_via _](https://us.list-manage.com/5R1fJMgwG_z?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)**
[Sunset Blvd.](https://us.list-manage.com/Tnh6Dr_MY1q?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)**
and features with original art by **Paul Leary **and **Gibby Haynes**.

[[_**AFTER THE ASTRONAUT**_
**Track Listing**

[⌊Butthole Surfers⌉⌊Butthole Surfers⌉[

**Side A**

 * 01 – Weird Revolution
 * 02 – [Intelligent Guy](https://us.list-manage.com/Dj80CORSNin?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)
 * 03 – [Jet Fighter](https://us.list-manage.com/qGUyDqoKYCx?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)
 * 04 – Mexico
 * 05 – [Imbuya](https://us.list-manage.com/12n58I73Ik6?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)
 * 06 – Venus

**Side B**

 * 07 – The Last Astronaut
 * 08 – Yentel
 * 09 – Junkie Jenny in Gaytown
 * 10- They Came In
 * 11- I Don’t Have a Problem
 * 12 – Turkey and Dressing

**Social Media:**
[Website](https://us.list-manage.com/J6MuD8ju6iU?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)
| [X/Twitter](https://us.list-manage.com/MzEM6VYha95?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)
| [Facebook](https://us.list-manage.com/5yve2S28jpW?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)
| [Instagram](https://us.list-manage.com/15hEQvEsCZM?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)
| [YouTube](https://us.list-manage.com/Smsh5yFxLLx?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)

[⌊Reybee Inc⌉⌊Reybee Inc⌉[

### Share this:

 * [  Facebook ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/?share=facebook)
 * [  X ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/?share=x)
 * [  Email ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20BUTTHOLE%20SURFERS%20%2AFinally%2A%20Release%20The%20Mythical%20%22After%20The%20Astronaut%22&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyrdcast.com%2Fbutthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut%2F&share=email)
 * [  LinkedIn ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/?share=linkedin)
 * [  Mastodon ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/?share=mastodon)
 * [  Nextdoor ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/?share=nextdoor)
 * [  Pinterest ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/?share=pinterest)
 * [  Reddit ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/?share=reddit)
 * [  Tumblr ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/butthole-surfers-release-after-the-astronaut/?share=tumblr)

### Like this:

Like Loading…

### _Related_