Derek Zoolander himself, also known to some as Ben Stiller, is actually a bonafide rocker – having spent his formative years as a drummer for the brutally named band Capital Punishment. Now the world will be able to bask in teenage Stiller’s music skills, thanks to a Brooklyn indie label.
Speaking to Howard Stern recently (listen below), Stiller revealed that at age 15 or 16 he was the drummer in a “ridiculously weird” high school band, inspired in part by the music of David Bowie and Brian Eno.
“What happened was some outsider music label, which I didn’t know those existed, but people who are just into weird music; I guess it’s been found and they asked us if they could re-release it,” he said.
That label is Brookyln’s Captured Tracks, home of Mac DeMarco and Perfect Pussy, who have announced the reissue of the band’s one LP, 1982’s self-released Roadkill, later this year.
Reports Pitchfork, in addition to Stiller the band also featured frontman Kriss Roebling, whose ancestors built the Brooklyn Bridge in the 19th century, Peter Zusi – now a professor of Slavic studies at University College London – and Peter Swann, who became a Supreme Court Justice for the US state of Arizona.
“The late 70’s was a f**kin’ exciting time to be a young kid in New York City who loved music,” wrote Roebling in a post on the Captured Tracks website. “As an expression of our excitement for what was going on around us, my closest friends and I insisted on starting up a band. We called it Capital Punishment. I don’t know why.”
“Despite the difficulties of recording at that time, the fact that we still barely knew how to play our instruments, and that our musical interests seemed to be on a collision course with what the majority of our school mates were into at the time, we became hellbent on waving our very enthusiastic freak flag by recording an album.”
“I’m utterly stoked and baffled by the fact that Roadkill is now being shared 33 years on with a larger audience, and I advise those of you who enjoy it to seek professional help FAST,” he added.”
Sadly, Stiller told Stern it’s probably unlikely Capital Punishment will reunite for a tour.
Listen to a cut from the album, Confusion, below.
Listen: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT // Confusion (1982)
Listen: Stern Show Clip – Howard Talks To Ben Stiller About Capital Punishment
Roadkill Tracklist
01. Necronomicon
02. Roadkill
03. Confusion
04. Muzak Anonymous
05. All just in Passing
06. Delta Time
07. Creatures of the Dark (Night)
08. Cosmos
09. John’s Forgotten land (Parts 1, 2, and 3)
10. Necronomicon (Reprise)
