The words of Hunter S. Thompson might best describe The Butthole Surfers as “One of God’s own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” A band countless outsider teenagers dropped acid to in the nineties, that stumbled into the mainstream spotlight with the Electric Larryland album that was devised even before factions took up on the internet to be divided about things. The album was more of an anomaly, so when Capitol Records received the follow-up After the Astronaut, they shelved it, but thankfully, Sunset Blvd Records finally released it.
No one has ever accused a record label executive of being a genius, while it contains some weird droning interludes with effected samples, that has been a staple of the band’s previous work and it still incorporates electronic elements as well as Gibby Haynes taking his medication to give a more subdued spoken performance, This also aligns with what Paul Leary has said about accusations of this era of the band beings a sellout in his claims the band was just influenced by trip-hop at the time and organically shifted away from noise rock.
The lead single this time around, “Intelligent Guy,” is not a far cry from what put them on the radio in the first place. In fact, it still feels pretty mainstream to me when compared to even “Independent Worm Saloon. “Jet Fighter” was originally intended to be the single from this album, and it also holds some similarities to “Pepper.” It’s weird but not dark. “Mexico’ is a little darker, with a more surreal feel than the previous song, yet finds the band embracing nineties electronica. “Venus” is the out of place at first listen, feeling a bit silly until Leary picks his guitar up again. The title track is more of a sound collage than a song, that steps back into their earlier work but with better production.
“Yentel” finds the drugs kicking into high gear. It’smore of a simmering interlude that leads to another piece of weirdness in “Junkie Jenny in Gaytown” that does not sound like the title, and does not get fun until they start jamming in the middle of the song. There is more groove to the electronic pulse of “They Came to”. The guitars also come in on this, and Gibby returns to a more familiar vocal approach, letting all the pieces click into place to make this the best song thus far. “Not a Problem” works off cool samples with a lurid droning. Then they close the album with “Turkey and Dressing’ which finds them reminding you of their Punk roots.
This album feels more like the band than Electric Larryland, and the fact that Capitol Records wanted something more commercial from them is why the record industry is in the place it’s at now. Butthole Surfers fans should rejoice; and the rest of the world needs to listen up, as much Acid Bath, or Deftones, this is a band that deserves to be rediscovered by a new generation, but is this the album that is going to do it?
Buy the album here:
https://sunsetblvdrecords.ffm.to/aftertheastronaut
9 / 10
WIL CIFER
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