THE REBEL "Exciting new venue for soccer and execution of women" EP
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R E V I E W S :
Ben R. Wallers is a complicated, deranged man. If
his work in COUNTRY TEASERS hasn’t convinced you of this fact, then his solo
project, THE REBEL, will. SDZ Records has just released his second single, the
Exciting New Venue For Soccer And Execution Of Women 7” EP. Musically, it’s a
little more out-there than the recent Teasers material (though still obviously
the same guy), but if you are a fan of their recent work (like me), you will be
more than happy to snatch this puppy up.
Mitch Cardwell /
Maximum Rock N’ Roll
A stellar new EP from the satirical mind of BEN R. WALLERS, founding member of
Scottish favorites THE COUNTRY TEASERS. Four tracks of stumble and drag garage
rock, driven by Wallers' trademark vocals and dangerous wit. Imported from
France. Excellent.
Midheaven
Mailorder
The first solo B.R. Wallers stuff I've heard, and I like it. I had always been a
fringe Country Teasers fan until the past couple of years when everything just
clicked all of a sudden, sometime around when the double LP on In the Red came
out. This collection from the Rebel is similar in sound/vibe to the last Teasers
LP, yet even looser and weirder. Lots of twisted electronics, dimestore Casio
sounds, some guitars and whatever else all thrown in the pan and pressure-cooked
in the oven that is Wallers' mind. Four tracks that veer from the simply bizarre
to mind wrenching melancholy, with a sound that falls somewhere in the vicinity
of the Swell Maps most experimental moments, obscure British DIY lunacy, The
Fall, outsider art, and just about any closet four-track recording weirdo you
can think of, especially those that loathe the music industry (and most other
things as well). Subtly brilliant. Perfect for those moments when you've just
arrived home at 5:30 in the morning, and you're sitting there wondering just
what it is that you've done.
Rich Kroneiss /
Terminal Boredom
Ben Wallers of Edinburgh, Scotland’s Country Teasers goes solo on this slapped
together, four-tracked slab of wax. It’s as politically flippant as the Fall and
as anti-hi-fi as the Beat Happening. Somewhere in the middle lies finicky,
fuzzy, electro sounds backed with pots’n’pans type banging. Maybe if White
Hassle was more punk than alterna-Americana, or if Doo Rag was more electro
clash than being just plain weird, it would sound like this. Wallers’s voice
matches the song content, so when you get to a song like “Please Ban Music”,
expect more beat-poet groan than Britpop croon.
The Rebel is exactly that, rebelling against the modern sound of mainstream
music (even Beck gave up his junky noise collages years ago) and throwing out
some social commentary that’s been missing in music for a while now. Clearly
this 7” falls into the category of “outsider music”, a genre not really defined
by its sound but by its artists, self-proclaimed or not. The Rebel (along with
the above mentioned, and Wesley Willis, Daniel Johnston, et al) fall right in
with the “outsiders”, making music geared towards those who declare music more
as a work of art than as a sing-along dance party. This will appeal to any music
nut that enjoys strange music not for the sake of it being strange, or for it
being novelty (that’s not the aim of outsider musicians), but for the sake of
its own mysterious existence in the first place.
Mark Hughson / Now
Wave Magazine
And if you misanthropes or Taliban nostalgics are excited by that title, you’re
sure to get some hefty titillation from this new EP from Scotland’s THE REBEL,
aka Ben Wallers from the COUNTRY TEASERS. I am definitely more into this one
than the EP we discussed in this forum last year; imagine, if you will, the very
same FALL that made “Second Dark Ages”, now with access to samplers and
21st-century overdub techniques. There’s a lot less bleeping and Casio
experimentation than that other one, and it sounds, well - it sounds more like
something like some guy from the Country Teasers might attempt over a
particularly inspired weekend. My pick to click is the brief (but frantic)
“Please Ban Music”, which has a skeletal, skittering riff that coughs and
sputters like an insect caught in the mixing board. Overall, pretty neat. On
France’s SDZ Records.
Jay Hinman / Agony
Shorthand
Ben Wallers, ex-Country Teasers, continues his assault on casio keyboards and
bourgeois sensibilites. And women. 4 chaotic songs.
Goner Records
EX County Teaser, BR Wallers explores his mind and expands yours with this great
7" full of lo-fi Casio- weirdness that falls somewhere between SYD
BARRET's early solo career and the INTELLIGENCE.
Fred / Criminal IQ
This EP features 4 previously unreleased songs by Ben R. Wallers,
singer/guitarist of the COUNTRY TEASERS! Both musically and lyrically offering
the same brilliant irony and black humor as known from the COUNTRY TEASERS, in
his twisted country-ramblings and lofi-electro-pop!
X-Mist Mailorder
The rebel is the solo project from ben wallers, founder / singer / guitarist of
the country teasers. This ep features 4 new tracks of his usual satire, black
humour, twisted country ramblings and lo-fi electro pop.
Rough Trade Shop London
It’s Ben Wallers of the infamous Country Teasers going solo! More fucked up than
ever with no one holding him back. Actually it sounds a whole lot like the
Teasers just a little more strange... Not compared to their latest on ITR but
stranger than the rest of the stuff. This one’s got drummachine (I think) and a
whole lot of keyboards. In the end it’s pretty damn cool, I really like the
Country Teasers so this will have to do until they do a good new one.
(Thomas)
Behind this strange monicker lies B.R. Wallers, mastermind of those Scottish
nutcases, Country Teasers. It’s kinda hard to see the reason why he needs to put
out this stuff under an alias, why not just put it out as CT, the music is so
similar. A mix of country, noise and punk- these four songs explore much the
same territory the Teasers have so wonderfully done. Strange, fucked- up and
definitely out- there, this is not your average garagerock-record. Just listen
to one of the wonderfully named tracks ( my favorite is" Spiderman In The Flesh"
) and you’ll see what I mean. Could B.R. be the modern day Syd Barrett? Nice
apetizer for the upcoming Country Teasers live-CD on In The Red. (Artemi)
Ben R Wallers (ex Country Teasers) is The Rebel. It's experimental 7" in vain of
Velvet Underground, Residents and some other minimal new wave mixed with garage.
Sound is very weird and original. Weird and surrealistic sense for humor in
kinda Monty Python style. Well the title is crazy enough to let you know you
can't expect anything 'normal' from this record.
Vanya / No Brains Zine
If anyone has been concered about Country Teasers number one Ben Wallers
emotional state over their past couple of albums this isn't going to calm the
concerns. Shrill Casio synths blurt foul squeaks, drum machine beats sound like
they're being stumbled over by analog feet with a doctrine of bile and disqust
rolling off Ben's tongue putting the icing on this broken glass stuffed mudpie.
"New Wave of New Wave" circles are probably irritated by it
because nothing on it sounds like New Order and I'm sure more than a few a
garage rockers will be pissed because nothing here similar to "Bitches Fuck
Off."
Dale /
Smashin Transistors
Prima prova del nuovo solo-project del leader dei Country Teasers B.R.Waller.
Rispetto al lavoro espresso con l’intera congrega degli ubriaconi cambia
poco, ma forse perché anche quelli sono una sua creatura, benchè insieme
costituiscano un’entità riconoscibile e personale. Stesse ossessioni soniche e
sessuali, country degenerato e casio-culture. Ma qui ci si spinge verso oscurità
ancora più elettro-wave e paesaggi ridondanti di riffs elettronici in circolo.
Rumore e fastidio anche tra le campagne.
Capinch Zine
Lorsque les Country Teasers ont joué à Toulouse en première partie des
Oblivians, il y a une bonne décennie, les spectateurs massés dans la cave du
"Soluble" ouvraient de grands yeux incrédules. De la country de cet acabit,
lo-fi, désaccordée, déglinguée et lancinante, on avait rarement vu ça. S'en
était suivi une soirée bien arrosée avec Ben, l'énigmatique
chanteur/compositeur, lunettes à la Buddy Holly, galurin des années quarante
vissé sur le crâne, fan de Jonathan Swift et Williams Burroughs, et ses
accolytes écossais, éthyliques et amateurs de new wave, qui admettaient
volontiers la prédominance des textes sur la musique dans les chansons du
groupe. Depuis les Teasers ont continué à torturer la country, et Ben s'est
lançé dans une carrière solo sous le nom de The Rebel: lyrics toujours corrosifs
et politiquement incorrects sur fond cette fois d'electro pop mutante, forcément
lo-fi et déglinguée. Le Ep quatre titres sur SDZ s'intitule Exciting New
Venue For Soccer And Execution of Women. Captain Beefheart et les Flying
Lizards en pleine overdose de peyotl. A découvrir.
Sylvain / Dig It!
Rich gave this a good review a few months back, but I felt I owed this chunk of
wax a few words as it’s logged so many miles bouncing around France, the U.S.
and Canada in a mailman’s bag (big thanks to Lastname for moving). Like Rich,
I’m a bit of a latecomer to appreciating the genius behind #1 miscreant, Ben
Wallers (aka The Rebel), and his Country Teasers. It’s just over the past year
or so that the Teasers’ back catalogue has been completely doing it for me. As a
result, this single (which refines the weirdness of the Teasers into four
discreet bursts) has been getting heavy spins around here with its DIY bedroom
take on the early Rough Trade sound. If you’re into that sorta thing or newer
bands influenced by Ben’s writing (like The Intelligence) you’ll dig.
Jeff Greenback / Terminal Boredom
The weirdest member of the strangest band ever (Country Teasers) unleashes
several tracks of musical mischief that are (like most Teasers related material)
unclassifiable. That said, I will classify it all as seductively chaotic and
brilliantly fucked. In fact I feel as if this record fucked me with quite a bit
of brilliance.
Flamin Waymon Timbsdayle / Roctober
"Ein Hoch auf prätentiöse Künstlernamen: The Rebel ist so einer, par excellence.
Und The Rebel ist eigentlich Ben R. Wallers von den Country Teasers, der schon
seit einer Weile im Homerecording-Verfahren Musik macht - solo. Vier seiner
Songs - unveröffentlichte - finden sich auf der interessant betitelten 7"
"Exciting New Venue For Soccer And Execution Of Women", und wer die Country
Teasers schon für schwierig und anstrengend hält, der sollte hiervon die Finger
lassen: Lo-Fi Electro Country Pop zwischen Wesley Willis und Mark E. Smith, auf
der Weirdo-Skala ganz oben und eine dieser Platten, bei denen man mit
"interessant" endet. Eben. Interessant."
Joachim Hiller / Ox
For another example, here's another 7-inch by him, recorded in 2003, released by
French label SDZ Records in 2004. More exciting artwork, with a provocative
title, eh? Any of you misogynist armchair eugenicists out there perking up a
bit? The first song "Turtle v. Octopus" is a messy bad-ass home-recorded
groove-rocker that comes off really well -- all you The Band revivalists take
note! (Not to mention Califone buffs!) Side two starts with "Keith," a loud
stomper rocker with carnivalesque keyboard mayhem -- hell, sounds like the
full-band Teasers to me -- but track two "Spiderman in the Flesh" is much
sparser and weirder and home-tapey. Fuck, everything from the big, messy,
surrealistic, and mean Teasers camp is good."
- L.D / Blastitude #18
The Country Teasers have made some real purty records over the years. Now the
leader of their tribe, Ben Wallers, has released his debut solo single, as The
Rebel. Exciting New Venue For Soccer And Execution of Women (SDZ 7") has a feel
not unlike some of the tunes of The Rebel's home planet. It's a kind of roots
investigation taken sideways into the territory of the early K Recs minimalists
or others of that ilk. Which I guess means that it also really sounds sort of a
cassette-era in a way. And hey, maybe that's a good thing. Regardless, The
Rebel's sound will certainly jack into the brains of those with a taste for such
makers of good works as Dan Johnston and his many kith.
Byron Coley /
The Wire Issue 252
John Peel (RIP) played the record several times on his
radio show.
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