Live Album

Dusted Reviews Artist: Country Teasers / The Rebel Album: Live Album / Kit Label: In the Red Review date: Aug. 25, 2005 “I’M GONNA FUCKING SUCKERPUNCH THIS PIECE OF SHIT BAND! THEY FUCKING DESERVE IT! AND I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ‘CAUSE IT SUCKS! SO GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!!!” Five tracks into the Country Teasers’ Live Album, something happens that, if it isn’t a first in an authorized live recording, is probably one of a handful of instances captured for such posterity: total negative-vibe audience meltdown. A male patron, so enervated by what he had been hearing all night, finally melts down (perhaps with the help of PCP or crystal meth and a gallon of piss beer in cans). "If anyone wants us to play another set, that can be arranged," Teaser leader B.R. Wallers cheerfully goads, as said patron is led out of the room to cool off. In the live setting, the Teasers can do what they please. Members storm off the stage; fans pick up their instruments and play in their absence. They have ground packed rooms down to a nub with plodding, aggravating selections, waiting until a dozen fans remain to unleash a primal blat of rock salvation before packing it up for the night. Mercilessly baiting their crowds night after night, and still they make records, and still people buy them. If you’ve never bothered with them, you might be able to live with yourself just fine. But there is little denying the entertainment value that comes from being a fan, enjoying their recordings and seeing them live. The latter is captured – albeit fractiously and with negligible fidelity – on this self-explanatory disc with appropriate swagger, almost-in-tune musicianship and enough attitude to skin a priest. Often combining multiple versions of a song in a single track, the album lurches and scrapes along, from jacked up originals like the aforementioned "Black Change" and the misanthropic glory of "Please Stop Fucking Each Other" (with a chorus that begins with the verse "Die, die, die, die") to a well-chosen assortment of covers that pummel with banality ("Blue Monday"), resonate with obviousness (the Brainbombs’ "Obey" and two Butthole Surfers covers from the Cream Corn EP), and fit just right – their cover of Randy Newman’s hated hit "Short People" ranks as a most appropriate summation of the band’s M.O., and on top of it all, breaks down into a gentle, back-porch acoustic interlude in the middle. - Doug Mosurak, Dusted Magazine