released March 20, 2024

all songs written by Beat-Man Zeller copyright +SUISA+ Voodoo Rhythm Publishing 2001
recorded and mixed in Aug.20/21. 2001 at Toe Rag Studios by sir Liam Watson, on a EMI Redd 17 desk from the Abbey Road Studios in London, mastered at echo chamber by Dan Suter special thanks to the Bristols, the Sires, Ginas Cafe, foto on front cover foto by Yoshiko Kusano, Artwork: Beat-Man

REVEREND BEAT-MAN - Kick Drum Guitar Preaching
BROTHER JANOSH - Casio Yamaha Tapedeck
FUZZY J.BUTLER - Slide Guitar Harp
GRINGO STARR - Drums
GERRY MOHR - Organ Piano
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REVIEWS:
MOHAIR SWEETS (USA)
Reverend Beat-Man and The Un-Believers: Reverend Beat-Man and The Un-Believers (Voodoo Rhythm) The Reverend sings like Popeye after he's used a glass of Bourbon to gargle and the Un-Believers clearly subscribe to some sort of back in the hills Black Magic in order to come up with the kind of gospel-billy, bent-blues, devil-beat they lay down behind the preacher man. And preach he does; "Save My Soul From Hell," "Fuck You Jesus Fuck You Lord," "Popcorn Up Your Arse," "Save My Soul From Hell" and "Get On Your Knees" are never gonna get him to the front of the line at the golden gates so the best bet is to beat the devil at his own game I guess. Does he come close? Fucking rights. And he knows how to put a record sleeve together too! Wicked. Keep the faith Beat-Man we love ya. (13 tracks. 34:28 playing time.)
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Simon Nott (big cheese) UK
Unholy Rocking Rantings to Soil the Soul. Lovely.
In an earlier incarnation the prefix was ‘Lightning’ and The Beat-Mans’ records were so diabolically badly recorded and well, just plain bad that they were good, Primitive garage rocknroll trash best listened to with your head in a bucket.Now the Beat-Man has found Satan and risen as the Rev. This time around his insane rantings were recorded at Toe-Rag studios and backed by the Un-believers who provide dirty low down catchy rhythms ideally suited to back scuttling nuns while doing coke off the alter and drinking Jack from the communion chalice. 13 tracks to warp the mind and soil the soul.The Rev does not seem to know which way to turn as ‘Save My Soul From Hell’ and ‘Fuck You Jesus Fuck You Oh Lord’ on the same platter seem likely to be counter productive if his soul is really to be saved, yeah right as if he wants it to be. Records to Ruin Any Party screams the label, but only a Sunday School picnic. ‘Get On Your Knees’ is only for the seriously twisted rocknroll retard but guarantees to hit the diseased Rhythm nerve in the shadowy recesses of many a punkers brain. Infectious enough to grip your mind and twist it with a capitol T. Comes complete with 30 page booklet written by loonies, file under Primitive Gospel Blues Trash, can’t argue with that!
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I 94 BAR (AUS)
Enter the dark, disconnected and throughly messed-up musical world of Beat-Man. Leave reality at the door and go hog wild. Beat-Man is the Swiss head honcho of Voodoo Rhythm Records. He gargles with paper clips and is currently in receipt of religion, living life as a trash rock evangelist known as Reverend Beat-Man (with a band called the Un-Believers.) Seems Beat-Man's musical antics go back to the 1980s when he was a attraction on the Euro trash rock scene, both as a one-man band (he plays kick drum and guitar) and wrestling show. Not sure how you pull off being a one-man wrestling show, but word has it that Beat-Man ended up in a wheelchair after one particularly violent show. His getting of religion had something to do with having his wrestling mask's spirit exorcised. Tunes with a recent combo, Beat-Man and the Never Heard of 'Ems, include "Bring Back the Death Penalty" and "I'm Gonna Kill You Tonight".
If his conversion came via Robert Johnson and Screaming Jay Hawkins, the latest stuff on Beat-Man's Voodoo Rhythm label occupies a musical niche almost entirely of its own making. Three parts trash and garage, four parts voodoobilly, it's as primal as fuck and not more than a little demented. You've heard garage music but this is about as far removed from the cutesy demo antics of the White Stripes or the energetic but comparatively polite Mooney Suzuki as you can get. This is fucking w-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-y out there.
If you'll excuse an obvious Swiss jibe, there's something strange in the chocolate that Beat-Man and his friends eat and all the cuckoos aren't only in clocks. Not that the brand of religion the good Rev is pushing will offend many I-94 Bar patrons. Like the amiable senior citizens from the Salvation Army who waltz into Australian pubs every Friday afternoons and relieve half-cut patrons of loose change in return for a copy of the War Cry newspaper with just a rattle of the collection box, I predict you might consider Beat-Man's oeuvre worth shelling out hard-earned to hear. "Reverend Beat-Man and the Unbelievers" is a relatively gentle introduction, even slightly mannered in parts, but nevertheless might take some acclimatisation, especially to the musically refined ear. This is warped rockabilly-blues, with a touch of gospel, that makes few concessions to sounding commercial. And at times Reverend Beat-Man, well, sings like Popeye the Sailor Man, not to put too fine a point on it. Looks like a late-period Clash Joe Strummer on the cover, too, but the comparisons end there (the late Joe Mellor would have been hard-pressed to push his vox this far).
A couple of the contemplative tunes drag, but the picks are the call-and-response "The Lord is Coming Back", the fuzzy "Come Back Lord" (where I can forgive the engine room's variable pace) and the swinging "Oh Lord!" Not to forget, "Fuck You Jesus Fuck You Oh Lord", which is full of bombast and dirty slide and boasts the best blasphemous title we've heard in some time, maybe ever. "Show Me How" has hints of "Sour Mash" Beasts of Bourbon lurking in the guitars and "They Ring the Bells For Me" hovers on the edge of reality thanks to Beat-Man's overwrought delivery and some one fingered piano.
The packaging is stunning, too, coming in a digipack with a 32-page book which unlocks the secrets of how you, too can become a Beat-Man. It's as unhinged as some of the music within. Production was via the fab and authentic Toe Rag Studios in London and it does sound fine.
The Rev is a grower. The Monsters, on the other hand, are musically week-old instant coffee - hard to ignore but if it's going to cure the morning-after shakes, you'll ignore the green scum floating on the top and drink it down 'COS IT'S GOOD FOR YOU. This is trashy '60s punk - or a very dirty European approximation thereof. It's devoid of flash, fuzz-edged and edgy and has what poppets to be "the world's first clone drum set" (read: dual drummers). This is the Monsters' sixth full-length album and they've been dealing in this primitive line of rock and roll since 1986. Despite the impression that they raced this off in 10 minutes in a studio, they have good songs too. "Fuck My Brain (Buddah Buddah)" is pure electric trasharama - 240 volts with no earth. "Sonic Nightmares" is a (comparatively) slick piece of hot rod instrumental action with rippling guitar.
The title track, "I See Dead People", is unhinged acid rock that recalls a dozen one-shot '60s punk bands and is the best song Sydney's late, great Crusaders never recorded, maybe the best thing here, and recalls We The People at their peak. (Then again, the guitar line in "The Other Man" is the most blatant cop of "You Burn Me Up and Down" that you'll hear outside a cover version.) "Acid Dreams" could be the stuff that fried the hippies' brains at Woodstock (i.e. it's one bad trip). "I'm Going Away, Girl" is purely damaged, a ranting, furious vocal over the top of hot-wired guitar. Lyrically, The Monsters are spitting invective or breaking down (and in a song like "Oh Wrong", they do both). "You Know Why" takes the ranting a step closer to a rubber room. The Monsters also dabble in instrumentals with the "Goo Goo Muck" of the Cramps-like "Boss" a prime example. Drums and over-driven guitar career all over the place, while Beat-Man's occasional screams punctuate the madness. The closer, "Diggin' My Grave", is another (mostly) instro that's positively lounge music by comparison.


BANDWORM
“Gospel punk possessed by Satan music!” This is definitely the best release of Voodoo Rhythm Records. Maybe musically it’s not my cup of the tea, but I spent a lot of time listening to this mostly because of great lyrics. I mean, just one glance at the track list and you’ll get the picture: get on your knees, come back lord, back in hell, save my soul from hell, the lord is coming back, oh lord!, fuck you jesus fuck you oh lord, popcorn up your ass and so on. With this (digipack)CD you’ll get GREAT, extremely funny fat booklet with tons of stuff to read while listening to this album. They represent themselves as ‘swamp blues’ and it really is the best description of the music they play. Check out what Beat-Man said about recording this record: “...we went to Toe Rag in London and recorded and mixed it all in 2 days, I didn’t rehearsal with my band before the studio...to the most songs there are no lyrics so I had to made up something...”. Record to ruin any party! PS: I also got fuckin’ great poster with this!....Vlada

BLANK GENNERATION
The Swiss answer to Billy Childish, Lighting Beat-Man reinvents himself as a fire and brimstone preacher for his latest, and possibly most tuneful offering. Backed by his mates from The Monsters, the music is heavy on the Gospel-Blues, complete with church organ on some tracks, and backs-up on the usual Beat-Man garage insanity level a bit. Vocals, of course, are courtesy of the Beat-Man’s Drano and cigarettes growl. There are plenty of fiery sermons laced with massive amounts of profanity mixed in with laments about the lord, Jesus, hell, saving your soul, and one about shoving popcorn up your arse. Reminds me of DM Bob and the Deficits crossed with field recordings from a Southern backwoods Presbyterian revival tent. There’s probably a reason for this, as the Beat-Man released DM Bob’s "Cajun Creole Hot Nuts" album on his own Voodoo Rhythm label. There are actually some really good, coherent songs here, and we all know the Beat-Man is crazier than a shithouse rat, so it’s good fun as well. A must have for Beat-Man fans, and if you’re not familiar with his brand of dementia this is a fine place to start. Great packaging, complete with a thirty page prayer booklet full of articles, pictures, interviews, religious propaganda, and manifestos written by the Beat-Man and his pals, most of which are in English. Produced at Toe Rag by Liam Watson, which certifies the Billy Childish parallel I mentioned earlier. Insane shit from a guy who is very serious about being nuts. Get converted by his gonzo-gospel blues before you burn. (RK)

ZVUKI (RUS)
Темные силы не дремлют и по-прежнему питают нездоровую симпатию к исполнителям блюза и рок-н-ролла в его первобытных формах. Правда, в Соединенных Штатах Америки, среди политкорректных матерщинников из числа "новых голых" металлистов, им последнее время стало совершенно нечего делать. А посему теперь нечисть собирается на свои шабаши в маленькой чистенькой Швейцарии. Туда их привлекают, как недавно выяснилось, не только совершенно невероятные спейс-блэкстеры из Samael, но и не менее безбашенный маньяк псайхобилли и головорез от ритм-н-блюза - Преподобный Бит-Мэн (Reverend Beat-Man) и банда его маниакальных приспешников под названием The Un-Believers. Рокабилли, ритм-н-блюза и гаражного рока с привкусом какого-то кухонного психоделического авангарда в музыке этого сумасшедшего коллектива примерно поровну. Рваные риффовые номера вроде "How Far Can You Do" сделали бы честь самим Stooges. Губной гармонике Фуззи Дж. Батлера (Fuzzy J. Butler) в "Save My Soul From Hell" вторят дешевенькие любительские синтезаторы Брата Яноша (Brother Janoch). В "The Lord Is Comming Back", извращенческой пародии на госпел, его расчески создают эффект игры настоящего духового оркестра. Второй клавишник, Джерри Мор (Jerry Mohr), где-то разжился целым церковным органом , но также не прочь взлабнуть буги на традиционном ф-но ("They Ring The Bells For Me"). Баса в группе не предусмотрено вовсе, а за ударные отвечает некий Гринго Старр (Gringo Starr). Смешно.
Не стоит так же забывать и о такой необходимой детали всякого приличного шабаша, как (да-да!) самое настоящее богослужение, только выдержанное в шутовских, балаганных тонах. Кульминацией альбома, вне всякого сомнения, является эпическое сочинение "Oh Lord!", полное припадочных скороговорок типа "господу-богу-помолимся-товарищ-генерал!". Сразу почему-то вспоминается финал старого фильма "Rock-N-Roll Circus" и пляски в плюшевых рясах и поролоновых тиарах под роллинговскую "Salt Of The Earth". Традиции милой насмешки над закостеневшими церковными ритуалами живы, и это хорошо. Во всяком случае, добродушные опусы Un-Believers обладают куда большей убойной силой, нежели истерические выходки фриков из Marilyn Manson и Cradle Of Filth. Кроме того, выбранный Бит-Мэном и его бандой для своих "проповедей" музыкальный язык уже давно неподвластен капризам моды. А это совсем здорово.

O.X (D)
Neben dem KING KHAN-Album die zweite essentielle Veröffentlichung, die das wunderbare Voodoo Rhythm Label aus der Schweiz diesen Monat für dich bereit hält und deren Erwerb ich hiermit nicht nur empfehlen, sondern ausdrücklich befehlen möchte. The full custom gospel according to the Reverend Beat-Man.
Du hast dein Geld verzockt, die Frau ist dir gerade stiften gegangen, als du erfährst, dass du unheilbar an Darmkrebs erkrankt bist. Beim Überqueren der Straße wendest du den Blick gen Himmel und fragst Gott, was um alles in der Welt du ihm angetan hast, damit er ausgerechnet dich als BLINK 182-Fan auserkoren musste.
In diesem Moment wirst du von einem Auto überfahren. In deinem eigenen Blut auf dem Asphalt kauernd, öffnen sich plötzlich die Schleusen des Himmels, ein Pudel kommt vorbei und pinkelt an das dir verbliebene Bein. Dies sind die Momente im Leben, in denen dich der Reverend Beat-Man mit seinem jüngsten Werk noch weiter in die Knie zwingen wird, bis du Satan´s undies wirklich zu schnüffeln bekommst.
Hank musste diesen bitteren Weg beschreiten, Johnny tut es noch heute, aber den beiden hätte keiner eine Heizdecke andrehen können. Eine Erfahrung, die auch dich und dein Leben bereichern wird.