After a long year made much more bearable by artists accidentally writing new albums with little else better to do, we’re kicking 2021 off with the news of a second sophomore album from Butthole Surfers guitarist Paul Leary, his first in three decades. While the songwriter chalks the new project’s inception up to non-COVID-related factors (“Songs kept popping into my head,” he shared in a press release, “so I figured I might as well record them.”), Born Stupid will be a welcome addition to the extended Surfers canon.
Along with the announce, Leary is sharing a video for the record’s title track, which warps a conventional country-western tune through a sinister vocoder and just a bit of self-deprecation. “’Born Stupid’ was born from a revelation I had while riding my bicycle that I am not as smart as I wish I was,” he shares wryly. “The video for this song is my first video ever attempted. And it is stupid.”
“I’d like to make things better, but I had to be born stupid, without no sense at all,” he intones over dramatic choral backing vocals, as the equally warped video positions a distorted visual of the artist in front of a dizzying backdrop. Watch the clip below, and anticipate Born Stupid out February 12 via Shimmy Disc/Joyful Noise—pre-order the record here.
