Country Teasers | Artist
Country Teasers is a UK post-punk collective formed 1993 in Edinburgh Scotland by band-leader Ben R. Wallers aka The Rebel (vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums). Initially Wallers was joined by Simon Stephens (bass), George Miller (drums), and A.K. Crichton (guitar), but the supporting lineup constantly changes. Early Country Teasers albums were characterised by literate, scathingly satirical lyrics and discordant, repetitive sound – like William S. Burroughs leading Joy Division or The Fall through a setlist of art-damaged country and western songs. Later Teasers releases branched out to "abuse not only country and western but every other genre they can get their hands on, including rap, goth, punk, folk, disco, electronic, and noise," leading to comparisons with other home-recording deconstructionists like Royal Trux, Butthole Surfers and Ween. Songwriter Ben Wallers's lyrics have elicited comparisons to Jonathan Swift, Bill Hicks and Chris Morris, provoking the audience with unorthodox standpoints and purposefully offensive vocabulary in order to force them to question their own opinions. As a recording outfit, the band has released seven studio albums, four excellent live albums, plus a bunch of EPs and Singles. Standout albums include The Pastoral - Not Rustic - World of Their Greatest Hits (1995), Satan Is Real Again or Feeling Good About Bad Thoughts (1996), Destroy All Human Life (1999), Secret Weapon Revealed at Last (aka Full Moon Empty Sportsbag) (2003), and The Empire Strikes Back (2006). Also recommended is the compilation Science Hat Artistic Cube Moral Nosebleed Empire (2002) and the archival release Toe Rag Sessions (2019). The Teasers' live shows are infamously unpredictable fusions of alcohol-or-whatever-fueled unprofessionalism and high-concept performance art, or in the words of the New York Press: "Country Teasers does art better than Sonic Youth and drunkenness better than The Pogues—and doesn’t need art or liquor to be confrontational bastards." Comparing Country Teasers to The Fall, Static Party's Ryan W points out, "it's not in the chord structures or the Northern (UK) accent, it's in the feel they create akin to the early Fall records that a truly creative brain is battering against resistance (self or other) to create something meaningful to itself." Band leader Ben R. Wallers has released over 40 albums under the guise The Rebel, plus he is a member of bands The Male Nurse, The Stallion, The Company, and The Devil. Wallers represents himself by a symbol called a "Spakenkreuz", which is a swastika with a broken (or 'spastic') arm, bent backwards to cross over the previous arm.
Artist Website: country-teasers.bandcamp.com/music
Featured Albums: Country Teasers
Related Artists: The Rebel
