New collection of COUNTRY TEASERS on Crypt Records
In case you haven't heard, Crypt Records (Crypt Records?) has a new collection of COUNTRY TEASERS material out and has reissued the "Satan Is Real Again" LP and their self-titled 10" debut LP! We'll have all three on our Slovenly USA website on Monday, Sept. 23rd.
COUNTRY TEASERS “Toe Rag Sessions, September 1994” Gatefold LP
14 cuts from their first recording studio sessions of Sept 2-4 1994. Originally the band recorded 23 songs but in October 1994 Ben fired the drummer and decided to re-mix everything. Dec 1994: Ben erases the drum track and re-drums it himself. Ben decides to jettison most of the songs and suggests 10 cuts for the debut so we decide on a 10” (See: Crypt-060 10” - Country Teasers “Pastoral / S/T”, also reissued.) And here they are at last: the 13 tracks cut at Toe Rag that didn’t make it onto the Pastoral 10”, PLUS the original version of “Black Cloud Wandering”. In a sumptuous gatefold containing ancient pre-interWeb communication forms (letters, faxes, etc). It would have made a damned great debut album in 1994. It IS a damned great album in 2019 (and forever!)
COUNTRY TEASERS "Satan Is Real Again" Gatefold LP
A rather deluxe reissue of this classic (as considered now) 2nd LP by Edinburgh/London combo Country Teasers, featuring tons of info on just how this LP came to be, plus the rather fucked-up story of a wee label flailing against the corrupt/inept accounting by Atlantic Records. Gatefold sleeve plus printed inner sleeve. And, most importantly: a READABLE sized BAND NAME upon a sticker attached to the shrink-wrap! Perhaps best is to quote directly from the original 1996 one-sheet (including original fonts!): Yes, my friends; A new 14-cut album from London´s finest, no doubt to cost Crypt more "garage/punk cred" within the ranks of those "hip". Well, believe me, I just spent 24 hours going thru a stack of over 200 demos from half-assed newly "hep" "garage" and "punk" bands and the Teasers cut a bold swath through alla these nouveau Caesars or D Dogs attempters, never mind alla these pissant surf/lo-fi/"trash" punkers with absolutely no fucking SUBSTANCE or originality. I will admit that the Teasers AIN´T yer "typical" Crypt "sound"; Hell, they almost fit in and could even appeal to "garage" hating "indie rock" types. SOME NOTES ON THE TUNES YE SHALL BE TREATED TO: Anyway, the alb kicks off with a noisey instrumental "intro", "THE WIDE-OPEN BEAVER OF NASHVILLE". Next up: the ALMOST "radio-friendly" "BLACK CHANGE" kicks in. Track 3 is an ode to the subtleties & innocent pleasures of "PANTY SHOTS". "IT IS MY DUTY": a charming, skipping treatise on the overly facistic feminism of now. Rather than apologize for any whining from the PC do-gooders, the next tune, a poignant C&W ballad, blames Ben´s brutal truth-laying on the "DEVIL ON MY BACK". Next up, the video-game squealing instro "LITTLE BLACK CLOUDS". And, rounding off side 1, another quiet C&W ballad, "LIES". Side 2 kicks off with a rollicking new wave "dance" ditty on the joys of being a man, "THANK YOU GOD FOR MAKING ME AN ANGEL", complete w/ intro/outro cops from a Joy Division tune. "CRIPPLES" is an ace mid-tempo jaunt. "SOME HOLE" is a crawling, slide-guit-screeching C&W ode to chasing pussy. "I DON´T LIKE PEOPLE" is a fast-paced R&B rocker about the "pleasures" of society. "COUNTRY FAG" is a rather crude "thru the eyes of" sketch about the manly West. "SATAN IS REAL AGAIN" is a dark discourse on Ben´s personal tract with the Prince Of Darkness. And, after all that bile and blood- letting... a quiet cover of the old standard, "THESE THINGS SHALL PASS", Ben´s "farewell" message of perseverance and hope....
COUNTRY TEASERS "Pastoral - Not Rustic / Self-titled" 10"
At last a repress of their 10 song 10” debut album that Crypt released in March 1995. From their first recording studio sessions of Sept 2-4 1994 at Toe Rag, London
