REBEL, THE - Incredible Hulk

A new full length LP by COUNTRY TEASERS frontman BEN "THE REBEL" WALLERS is always something to be savored. The Incredible Hulk is a brooding and brilliant work. Its darkness is punctured by skewed, experimental pop songs. The epic, pitch-black opener "Ambient Pasteman" details childrens TV character Postman Pats relationship problems ("Postman Pat booted out his wife because Postman Pat didnt like his wife") and is followed by the poppier "Cherish" ("we must cherish the drugs we have, for as long as we have the drugs") and the anthemic "Aiming Low, Getting High" (released on 7-inch by Lexi-Disques last year). "Christmas Every Day" is a snapshot of a nightmare-a man talks in earnest about how he celebrates Christmas every day, watching the Queens speech on endless video loops. The voice emerges from monstrous guitar noise and machine gun fire. Wallers satirical brilliance is to the fore with "On My Own"-it has a rather catchy chorus but the lyrics are an interpolation of a popular pedophile joke which then works as an intro for "The Forest"-a psychotic recontextualization of "A Forest" by The Cure. A crackling copy of that record is put on and gets stuck on Smiths familiar vocal "again and again and again"-looping over and over. Is this an acid blast at 60s-80s recycling in the moribund British pop scene, a twisted tribute, or a sick joke? Or all of the above? The Rebel is fucking with us again-thank God. Limited edition of 500 copies. UK import, no exports outside of North America." -Junior Aspirin