Butthole Surfers’ Paul Leary Announces New Album “Born Stupid,” Shares Video for Title Track

The guitarist’s first solo album in thirty years is out February 12 via Shimmy Disc/Joyful Noise.
Butthole Surfers’ Paul Leary Announces New Album “Born Stupid,” Shares Video for Title Track

The guitarist’s first solo album in thirty years is out February 12 via Shimmy Disc/Joyful Noise.

Words: Kim March

January 05, 2021

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.