AUDIO: Ben Stiller’s High School Post-Punk Band to Reissue Debut Album

Photo: Getty Images

The debut album of Ben Stiller’s high school post-punk band Capital Punishment is finally getting re-released. The 1982 album, “Roadkill,” will be reissued on Sept. 14.

The actor, comedian, and one-time musician has visited the Stern Show multiple times over the years. During a 2015 visit, he actually spoke at length about his days in the band and teased the album’s impending re-release. “I was in a ridiculously weird band,” he told Howard with a laugh before they listened to clips from several of the album’s songs, including “Muzak Anonymous,” which the record label Captured Tracks has announced will be the album’s lead single.

Take a listen to the songs as well as Ben and Howard’s conversation about Capital Punishment (below).

The press release for the reissue describes “Muzak Anonymous” as a “Beefheart-ian, gong-afied freak-funk that needs to be heard to be believed.” The band, meanwhile, which formed in 1979, has been described as “high school weirdos who actually got their shit together enough to make a completely uncommercial album.” As it turns out, those “high school weirdos” had pretty successful lives after Capital Punishment. In addition to an Emmy-winning drummer, the band also includes documentarian Kriss Roebling, college professor Peter Zusi, and Arizona judge Peter Swann.

Capital Punishment’s 13-song LP “Roadkill” is available Sept. 14 in an expanded and remastered format on vinyl and on CD. Get more information and a full track listing here.