Butthole Surfers reissued some of their classic albums via Matador a couple years ago, and here’s another treat for fans: lost album After the Astronaut, which was to be the follow-up to 1996’s surprise hit Electriclarryland (which gave us the Beck-esque “Pepper“) but got shelved by Capitol Records and never officially saw the light of day in its intended form. It’ll be out June 26 via Sunset Blvd.
“We were pretty stoked to make another album after the success of our previous album and its single ‘Pepper’,” says guitarist Paul Leary today. “Capitol Records was stoked to get that next record until our relationship soured.” They were dropped by Capitol and then signed to Hollywood Records (the label owned by Disney) who released a reworked version of the album as 2001’s Weird Revolution. “Hollywood Records bought the album but wanted to make changes to it which was an uncomfortable experience for us,” Leary adds. “Now we have the right to release the original recording the way we intended it to be with its original title, After The Astronaut.”
“After the Astronaut was a fun project,” says King Coffey. “We were using all the digital toys at our disposal at the time, and it felt much like the creation of Locust Abortion (1987). We were playing with new toys, creating things that amused us with the crayons we had, and we weren’t worried about radio airplay. It felt like we were going back to our experimental roots while still navigating the major label ecosystem.”
You can get a taste of After the Astronaut via “Jet Fighter,” which is noticeably different than the Weird Revolution version while still maintaining the folk-rock style. You can watch the new video for that, directed by Jeffrey Garcia, below.
After the Astronaut:
01 – Weird Revolution
02 – Intelligent Guy
03 – Jet Fighter
04 – Mexico
05 – Imbuya
06 – Venus
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