In 1996, the weirdest thing to ever come from Texas found their first taste of commercial success with Electriclarryland, in the form of their hit single, “Pepper.”
While many remember the track fondly, it split devoted fans down the middle—some, impressed with the sound and celebratory of the band’s radio success, others, however, disliked the deviation from the band’s darker and more punk laced early efforts.
Whatever side of the fence you stand on, fan or not, the Butthole Surfers have undeniably been one of music’s most polarizing and unique acts for the entirety of their tenure.
Following the release of Electriclarryland, the band took to the studio for a follow-up record, eventually titled After The Astronaut. Unfortunately for fans, Hollywood Records purchased the album and felt it necessary to make some changes—changes that caused some discomfort within the band, a moment that lead to the album being shelved and seemingly forgotten for the rest of time.
Flash forward from 1998 to 2026. We are now finally about to see the long awaited follow-up effort releasing in its entirety via Sunset Blvd., exactly as the band originally intended, on Friday, June 26.
Maintaining its deviation from the old formula (if you could call what the Surfers did prior “formulated”) the LP seamlessly blends dark-sided pop energy against LSD-soaked techno aggression. It is so in-your-face and explosive at times that it feels violent, in the best of ways.
The album opens up with “Weird Revolution,” a track that feels like a bad acid trip inside of some sort of Church Of The Strange, as Paul Leary (guitarist, vocalist) delivers us a sweat-soaked sermon over a cacophony of drums and bass, an immediate sonic hypnosis.
“Intelligent Guy” kicks off with a deep dark bass line that moves against Leary’s crass delivery perfectly. “Rock me baby, rock me baby, all night long,” sings frontman Paul Leary, as off-kilter guitar sears against the dizzying melody.
The band’s leading single for the LP, “Jet Fighter,” finds us inside the same realm of sound heard on the band’s only radio hit, “Pepper;” almost naturally following in the shoes of its predecessor. Here, we get more of the pop elements that fit so strangely against the Surfers’ soundscape, but works so undeniably well.
“Mexico” feels like a psychedelic adventure through some Middle Eastern landscape with its synth and its slow droning drums.
With “Imbuya” we get one of the album’s most aggressive markings—it is fast-paced, explosive and invasive.
The track “Venus” grounds us back down into a trance with the bass and organ being highlights of the song’s constant and slow drive. The slow guitar bends and melts against the strange sonic landscape and the sitar’s rolling slowly pulls you in, intoxicatingly so.
“The Last Astronaut” is some sort of intermission, where everything pulls together as quickly as it falls apart. It feels like flipping through 200 channels of nothing, but enjoying every second. Like peaking on LSD while staring into a television that is slowly going snowblind.
While I won’t discredit their place on the album, “Yentel” and “Junkie Jenny in Gaytown” follow the same theme as “The Last Astronaut,” serving as mostly instrumental intermissions.
On “They Came In” we return to the trance-inducing techno-soundscape that is painted on the rest of the LP; it is slow, but all the while aggressive and constant.
With one more intermission in the form of “I Dont Have a Problem,” we are lead into the closing track of LP: “Turkey and Dressing.” The song sees the band leaning heavily into its punk influences, while not entirely ignoring the influence that the rest of the album has thrown at us. It is a great mix of the band’s multifaceted and genre-bending abilities, and a perfectly weird way to wrap up such a long anticipated album.
All in all, After The Astronaut isn’t JUST a long lost follow-up to a band’s most commercially recognized album, it is a step forward and even an improvement on that era for the Butthole Surfers. It takes everything about Electriclarryland and cranks it up to 11, refusing to apologize.
Favorite Tracks
“Intelligent Guy”
“Venus”
Rating
4.4/5
Get After The Astronaut
https://sunsetblvdrecords.ffm.to
Tracklist
Side A
01 - Weird Revolution
02 - Intelligent Guy
03 - Jet Fighter
04 - Mexico
05 - Imbuya
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
Connect With Butthole Surfers
https://linktr.ee/ButtholeSurfers
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