View Larger
Rate it!
Avg: 4.0 (7 ratings)
- Date Released: February 23, 1999
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Alternative
- Label: Fat Possum Records
-
We Say...
The Country Teasers signed with the Mississippi-based Fat Possum Records for their third full-length, a move that elevated the blood pressure of many Teasers and Hasil Adkins fans. But the Teasers' stay on the label didn't survive past this album, proof that carpetbagging U.K. art-rockers and New Yorker-profiled neo-blues labels don't truck much after all.
Destroy All Human Life features the Teasers in their first proper studio, and without the tape hiss and four-track fracas, the band slows the pace considerably, alternating primarily between mid- and no-tempo country-tinged balladry. The stirring "David I Hope You Don't Mind" slow-dances around a funeral pyre, and "Come Back Maggy" and "Almost Persuaded" improvise woozy melodies while leaving the rhythm section back at the bar. Yet "Deliverance from Misrule" ranks among the band's greatest "hits," even with its first-and-only-take aesthetic.
Like most of the band's albums, this one errs toward inconsistency: opener "Reynard the Fox" meanders without direction or tune, but the second track, "Golden Apples," is a stone-cold Teaser pleaser as frontman B.R. Wallers' reverbed vocals lurk low in the mix, haunting the melancholy guitar loops as the song crescendos and then fades into oblivion. Not their best album by any means, but wise men fish here. -
They Say...
In 1999 "Edinburgh's least favorite sons," the Country Teasers, made their Fat Possum/Epitaph debut with their third LP, Destroy All Human Life. Many saw it as an unusual move for a label with a roster primarily made up of aging African-American bluesmen to sign a Scottish band with a reputation for writing racist, sexist, generally misanthropic songs. However, the folks at Fat Possum were clued-in enough to know that the Country Teasers use incendiary lyrics as a way to exaggerate hot-button issues in such a way as to make obvious just how ridiculous it would be if they (or anyone else) truly subscribed to such bigoted beliefs -- exaggerated social satire much in the vein of Jonathan Swift's infamous address of homelessness, A Modest Proposal. Pristine in production and performance in comparison to earlier efforts, for the first time on a Country Teasers record, all of the instruments can be deciphered, including the addition of piano on several songs, and most of Ben Wallers' lyrics can be readily understood. Whereas the sheer racket of earlier releases would have you believe otherwise, the Country Teasers are actually talented musicians. While the winding-down music box-paced, fractured country discord is still in place, Wallers and co. (revamped following Satan Is Real Again) seem to have matured a bit on this record, taking a break from their usual noisefest to slow things down and include songs that are, at times, rather beautiful. Case in point is the album's third song, "David I Hope You Don't Mind," written in the form of letters exchanged between Wallers and an ailing musical idol, it marks perhaps the first song on which Wallers actually sings. Proving that the "country" in the band's name has more to do with classic country & western than the new wave of pop-country drivel, Wallers offers up a surprisingly effective though out of key cover of Tammy Wynette's "Almost Persuaded" (1995's Pastoral -- Not Rustic found the band covering Wynette's "Stand by Your Man"). Both songs are written from a woman's perspective, and Wallers performs them accordingly. "Hairy Wine" seems to be an anti-heroin, song in which Wallers declares "I like the swastika, I also like the Jew/I like the negro and the KKK too...The only type I don't like is you, when you are a junkie," while the oddly pretty, musically almost Guided by Voices-like, "Golden Apples" finds him pointing out flaws in his bandmates and declaring himself "the perfect image of mankind, made by god to remind him of his son." Wrapping things up is the hypnotic, nearly epic "Song of the White Feather Club Secretary." A favorite allusion of Wallers, the White Feather Club was the dubious distinction put upon men who failed to promptly enlist in the British military circa 1914. Women gave these men white feathers, marking them as cowards, as a means of guilting them into enlisting.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
| 01. |  |
Reynard The Fox |
5:10 |
|
| 02. | |
Golden Apples |
3:28 |
|
| 03. | |
David I Hope You Don't Mind |
5:07 |
|
| 04. | |
Hairy Wine |
3:31 |
|
| 05. | |
Deliverance From Misrule |
2:22 |
|
| 06. | |
Almost Persuaded |
3:34 |
|
| 07. | |
Go Away From My Window |
4:44 |
|
| 08. | |
Brown Jews Etc |
4:07 |
|
| 09. | |
Women & Children First |
4:22 |
|
| 10. | |
Come Back Maggy |
3:13 |
|
| 11. | |
Song Of The White Feather Club Secretary |
5:35 |
|
11 Total Tracks, 45:13 Total Length
Loading...
Playlists If you like Country Teasers, check out these member playlists
Credits
- Country Teasers - Arranger // Country Teasers - Group // Country Teasers - Main Performer // Fred Baggs - Engineer // B.R. Wallers - Guitar // B.R. Wallers - Percussion // B.R. Wallers - Piano // B.R. Wallers - Guitar (Rhythm) // B.R. Wallers - Vocals
Choose from over 6 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.
© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC