THE REBEL "Exciting new venue for soccer and execution of women" EP
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.