{"id":213101,"date":"2026-03-20T16:32:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/213101\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T16:32:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:32:41","slug":"san-antonio-formed-freak-rock-band-butthole-surfers-releasing-shelved-1998-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/213101\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio-formed freak-rock band Butthole Surfers releasing shelved 1998 album"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Butthole Surfers clown around at a San Antonio kid\u2019s park. Who\u2019d have guessed this band would go on to have a massive hit with \u201cPepper?\u201d Credit: Pat Blashill<\/p>\n

San Antonio-originated psychedelic freak-rock band the Butthole Surfers this summer will release the shelved 1998 album After the Astronaut, originally expected to be the followup to the group\u2019s surprise smash Electric Larryland.<\/p>\n

The Buttholes were riding high after their 1996 MTV Hit \u201cPepper,\u201d which explored a quieter, more radio-friendly kind of chaos. After the newfound success, they intended to return to their experimental roots with After the Astronaut. Although the album was fully finished, Capitol Records canceled its release.<\/p>\n

The band later jumped to Disney-affiliated label Hollywood and re-recorded the tracks for a 2001 LP titled Weird Revolution. Among its many \u2014 erm \u2014 quirks, the release featured a track with a chorus written by Kid Rock (\u201cShame of Life\u201d).<\/p>\n

\u201cHollywood Records bought the album but wanted to make changes to it, which was an uncomfortable experience for us,\u201d guitarist Paul Leary told Stereogum<\/a>. Leary met singer Gibby Haynes at Trinity University, and the band operated out of San Antonio for its formative years before relocating to Austin.<\/p>\n

Weird Revolution came out to mixed reviews. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe thin music seems to emanate from a TV you can\u2019t turn off,\u201d Pitchfork wrote at the time. \u201cEach song putters on a weak beat that jangles and blips as if they dumped the ambient sounds of a Midway arcade over some Black Grape outtakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans greeted the record with similar ambivalence, and the Butthole Surfers haven\u2019t released a studio album since.<\/p>\n

Now, the band is releasing the tracks from After the Astronaut as originally intended. The album will drop June 26 on Sunset Boulevard Records.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the Astronaut\u00a0was a fun project,\u201d Drummer King Coffey told Stereogum. \u201cWe were using all the digital toys at our disposal at the time, and it felt much like the creation of\u00a0Locust Abortion\u00a0(1987). We were playing with new toys, creating things that amused us with the crayons we had, and we weren\u2019t worried about radio airplay. It felt like we were going back to our experimental roots while still navigating the major label ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

To promote the new album, the Butthole Surfers released a music video for single \u201cJet Fighter,\u201d a psychedelic clip-art fever dream directed by award-winning underground Texas filmmaker Jeffrey Garcia.<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

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