Butthole Surfers Reveal “Intelligent Guy” Fever Dream Video

Psychedelic post-punk sonic terrorists Butthole Surfers have released their ironically named single, Intelligent Guy, that is taken from their upcoming album, After The Astronaut, that is due out on June 26th via Sunset Blvd. The track is the third single to be released from an album that was originally recorded back in 1998 as the follow up to their 1996 mainstream breakthrough full length, Electric Larryland, that was originally shelved by the label. Intelligent Guy pits guitarist Paul Leary‘s searing guitar against King Coffey’s syncopated drum programming while Gibby Haynes delivers his trademark surreal yet oddly poetic lyrics. Intelligent Guy is accompanied by a fever dream of a video, filled with aliens, cellular-dividing fetuses, grotesque landscapes, muscular babies, and dinosaurs being ridden by clowns playing guitar.

The first time I ever heard the name Butthole Surfers was when Daniel Johnston burst into our co-op house at four in the morning shouting, “Wake up! Wake up! Everybody wake up! The Butthole Surfers need acid! So when eight women from the house decided to go see this band called The Butthole Surfers, I agreed to tag along. I even let the girls doll me up in makeup, a bouffant hairdo, and a nice dress because, somehow, it seemed appropriate for the occasion. We had no idea what we were walking into. We only knew people were saying insane things about this band and we wanted to make sure we looked worthy of the experience. The chaos of the show was already spilling into the parking lot. The doorman seemed too overwhelmed to notice I was smuggling a gallon of wine under my dress. From the first note, the band was electrifying. At first, they seemed like a typical Texas punk band, but that illusion quickly dissolved into a surrealist tent-revival sideshow. The band tore through pro-wrestling power chords while the shamanic lead singer summoned lyrics out of the smoky ether of the club. The music was nicely illustrated with a backdrop of flickering autopsy films, completing the hallucination. I need to remember to thank Daniel Johnston. Many years later, I was tapped to do a video. Fuck yes!” (director Ron English)