- After the Astronaut drops June 26, 2026 via Sunset Blvd.
- First Single “Jet Fighter” Out Now!
A shelved ‘90s follow-up finally lands in 2026, led by the gloriously unhinged single “Jet Fighter.”
Some albums get delayed. Some get scrapped. And then there are albums like After the Astronaut – the kind that disappear into legend, whispered about for decades before finally clawing their way back into existence.
Butthole Surfers have officially unearthed their long-mythologized “lost” album After the Astronaut, set for release June 26, 2026 via Sunset Blvd. – nearly three decades after it was originally pulled from the schedule at the last possible moment.
Back in 1998, the band was riding the strange wave of mainstream success following Electric Larryland and its unlikely hit “Pepper.” The plan was simple: follow it up with something new. The reality? Not so simple.
“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.”
What followed was label interference, creative tension, and ultimately a full derailment of the original album.
“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.”
If anyone expected the band to chase another “Pepper,” they clearly hadn’t been paying attention.
Rather than lean into the alt-rock sludge dominating the late ‘90s, the trio – Gibby Haynes, Paul Leary, and King Coffey – veered further off the map, diving headfirst into electronics, industrial textures, acid grooves, and warped sci-fi experimentation.
“After the Astronaut was a fun project,” says 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.”
Translation: this was never going to be the safe option.
The first taste of the resurrected album comes in the form of “Jet Fighter,” a track that leans fully into the band’s warped, anti-mainstream DNA.
Built on lo-fi psych weirdness and surf-punk energy, the song came together in the most Butthole Surfers way possible, as Leary recalls:
“When I purchased a 12-string electric guitar and wanted to play it.”
It’s chaotic, it’s off-kilter, and it fits perfectly within the band’s late-’90s creative orbit – an era where rules were optional and expectations were something to actively avoid.
Watch the Butthole Surfers – “Jet Fighter” (Official Video) below:
The track also carries an anti-war thread, following the story of a character named Mikey, with lyrics that still land decades later:
“He got into the cockpit and rose up in the sky / Set his sights on Beirut and he let his missiles fly / Boom, Boom!”
Elsewhere on the album, things only get stranger.
“I Don’t Have A Problem” builds its atmosphere through layered distortion, eerie textures, and found audio – including one particularly bizarre recording session.
“King showed up to the studio one day with a device that could listen in on other people’s cell phone conversations,” Leary laughs. “We set it up to record and turned it on. Right out of the gate this guy is talking about girls with ‘knives and daggers.’ We turned it into the song ‘I Don’t Have a Problem’.”
Because of course they did.
From the opening spoken-word strangeness of “Weird Revolution” to the grimy pulse of “Intelligent Guy,” After the Astronaut doesn’t just revisit an era – it drops you straight back into the band’s most unfiltered creative headspace.
Formed in the 1980s hardcore scene by Haynes and Leary in San Antonio, Butthole Surfers have always existed just outside the lines. Never fully mainstream, never fully underground – just permanently orbiting their own weird frequency.
Even at their commercial peak, they leaned into the bizarre. And that refusal to conform is exactly what made them influential across generations, inspiring artists ranging from Gwar and Flaming Lips to Jane’s Addiction, White Zombie, Monster Magnet, and Primus.
Now, After the Astronaut arrives exactly as it was originally intended – untouched, unpolished, and completely unconcerned with fitting in.
Produced by Paul Leary and recorded at Arlyn Recording Studio with Stuart Sullivan (Meat Puppets, Sublime), the album features the core trio of Gibby Haynes (vocals, synths), Paul Leary (lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards), and King Coffey (drum machines), with mixing handled at Preacher Mon Studio and mastering by Howie Weinberg (Herbie Hancock, Beastie Boys, Nirvana).
Nearly 30 years after it was shelved, the “missing” album is no longer missing.
It just took the long way around.
AFTER THE ASTRONAUT – Track Listing
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
