The Rebel Set

By mixing a heavy helping of dark, reverb-drenched surf with 1960’s garage punk, The Rebel Set certainly have found a unique, driven sound. Over all, the album’s tracks have a sort of darkness or heaviness flowing through them that Is hard to explain. I can only compare it to the feeling of listening to “California Dreaming” or The Sadies “Darker Circles” album, or to witnessing the first foggy, gloomy day of Fall. Yeah! Gloom! That’s the word I’m looking for! However, driven lyrics and drum beats keep the album upbeat and exciting.
KUCI Irvine, CA - KUCI Irvine, CA

By mixing a heavy helping of dark, reverb-drenched surf with 1960’s garage punk, The Rebel Set certainly have found a unique, driven sound. Over all, the album’s tracks have a sort of darkness or heaviness flowing through them that Is hard to explain. I can only compare it to the feeling of listening to “California Dreaming” or The Sadies “Darker Circles” album, or to witnessing the first foggy, gloomy day of Fall. Yeah! Gloom! That’s the word I’m looking for! However, driven lyrics and drum beats keep the album upbeat and exciting.
KUCI Irvine, CA - KUCI Irvine, CA

The Rebel Set are a three piece garage rock group from Phoenix and when I say “garage” rock band, I’m not talking about the recent trend of noisy lo-fi music. These guys are a real “garage” rock band. The trio takes from early sixties punk, surf, and psych. The guitar kicks ass, the songs are even dirtier, and the production sounds like that of an old sixties garage punk 45. Standout tracks include, “Poison Arrow”, a dark brooding garage cut with an extremely catchy verse, “Martian”, with guitar that harkens back to Apache, and an eerie theramin intro, “Birds and Bees”, a 60’s punk throwback that is impossible not to thrash to, and “Muckraker”, which sounds like an early Iggy Pop song. Overall, this album rules and these guys should be proud for creating something new and awesome out of something old and awesome.

WRUV Burlington, VT - WRUV Burlington, VT

The Rebel Set are a three piece garage rock group from Phoenix and when I say “garage” rock band, I’m not talking about the recent trend of noisy lo-fi music. These guys are a real “garage” rock band. The trio takes from early sixties punk, surf, and psych. The guitar kicks ass, the songs are even dirtier, and the production sounds like that of an old sixties garage punk 45. Standout tracks include, “Poison Arrow”, a dark brooding garage cut with an extremely catchy verse, “Martian”, with guitar that harkens back to Apache, and an eerie theramin intro, “Birds and Bees”, a 60’s punk throwback that is impossible not to thrash to, and “Muckraker”, which sounds like an early Iggy Pop song. Overall, this album rules and these guys should be proud for creating something new and awesome out of something old and awesome.

WRUV Burlington, VT - WRUV Burlington, VT

By way of introduction, here are a few influences the band lists in its bio: The Ramones, Dick Dale, Link Wray, Rocket From The Crypt, The Drags, The Tornados, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Holly Golightly, The Raveonettes, Buddy Holly, Duane Eddy, The Buzzcocks, The Rezillos, The Ventures, The Original Surfaris, Lee Hazelwood, Nancy Sinatra, The Ronettes, Al Casey, Hubb Kapp and the Wheels. And the quick studys among you out there in BLURT-land may already be nodding your heads approvingly and saying, "Case closed!" to yourself: surf, check; garage, check; punk, check-check-check!

But as always with a terrific band, the whole is usually far greater than the sum of the influences - as a quick listen to such choice tracks as the surf/spy-vibes of "Teenage Killer" or the Theremin-powered "Martian" reveals. In the former, Dale and Eddy get dragged outta the reverb silo by an angry mob of Cramps and Panther Burns fans and get buried up to their necks in the local graveyard (not an easy task when you factor in the rock-hard caliche soil of the Arizona desert); meanwhile, the titular murderess - all of 17 years - slinks away smirking as an unholy twang slowly recedes in the distance. One suspects a B-movie script may one day be culled from the lyrics of this song (hold that thought). And for "Martian," following the spooky Theremin intro that'd make Joe Meek proud, the band ploughs into an interstellar spaghetti western theme that's simultaneously minimalist and widescreen.

The Rebel Set's been around for about five years now, issuing the Teenage Killer EP in 2008 and following that up this past April with the Poison Arrow full-length. The trio has toured steadily throughout the Southwest, additionally gracing several regional compilations, and with plans to expand their touring reach, there's a good chance the rest of the country will soon be able to get a firsthand taste of their raw, unfiltered twang. (And sharp attire, too - these guys don't fuck around in concert, donning suits and often utilizing classic film footage as part of their stage presentation.) Oh, and about that band name: it was lifted from a 1959 B-grade teensploitation film, The Rebel Set, directed by Gene Fowler, Jr. and starring Gregg Palmer. According to IMDB.com, it concerns "three beatniks are brought together to rob an armored car, only to face betrayal from amongst their ranks." Classy!

The band:

Joe Zimmerman - guitar, vox
Jeff Doing - drums
Chad Kaffer - bass

Check out The Rebel Set's MySpace and Facebook pages for info, tour dates, song samples, links to videos, and more. Meanwhile, founder and frontman Zimmerman sat down for the proverbial BLURT grilling - which included, not insignificantly, his thoughts on the recent (and apparently ongoing) flap his state's controversial illegal immigration law.

***

BLURT: You formed in Phoenix around 2006 - how did the band come together, and what influences do you feel have been key in developing your sound?

ZIMMERMAN: The band started out with a friend and I just playing in my living room for fun. I hadn't done anything musically in a while and was pretty reluctant to start playing out again but we wrote a few songs and things sounded pretty good so we figured we'd give it a try. The line up kind of evolved over the first couple of years. We went through eight drummers in a fairly short period of time before we got Jeff. Chad joined the band late last year when our previous bass player Mike [Benson] had to leave to concentrate on his day job.
I've always been a big fan of old surf and garage rock as well as the 90's lo-fi garage stuff. Chad is into a lot of Midwestern indie bands and a lot of jazz and blues stuff; he plays guitar in a band called Thankful Birds that is more reflective of those influences. Jeff's tastes are really all over the place and we are all fans of early punk and new wave stuff.


Tell us a little about your debut EP and the full-length, and maybe some insights into how the songs are created.

Our debut EP has some of the first songs we ever wrote on it including the title track "Teenage Killer." The opening part of that song started out as something I came up with really early on when we didn't have many songs. It is one of the few songs that came together at a practice with the whole band there. I'm not really good at "jamming" so to speak, and I tend to work better alone. Most of our songs I sort of half-way write and then I'll record them and give the recordings to the rest of the band. They'll pick out the ones they like the best and figure something out for it. By the time we actually play the song together it already sounds pretty good. I guess it is a pretty unusual way to write songs but it seems to work for us.
As for as the songs on the album, "Teenage Killer" would obviously be one [that I like best] since we released it on the EP and the album. We also like "Martian" a lot, and I especially like it beca - Blurt Magazine

By way of introduction, here are a few influences the band lists in its bio: The Ramones, Dick Dale, Link Wray, Rocket From The Crypt, The Drags, The Tornados, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Holly Golightly, The Raveonettes, Buddy Holly, Duane Eddy, The Buzzcocks, The Rezillos, The Ventures, The Original Surfaris, Lee Hazelwood, Nancy Sinatra, The Ronettes, Al Casey, Hubb Kapp and the Wheels. And the quick studys among you out there in BLURT-land may already be nodding your heads approvingly and saying, "Case closed!" to yourself: surf, check; garage, check; punk, check-check-check!

But as always with a terrific band, the whole is usually far greater than the sum of the influences - as a quick listen to such choice tracks as the surf/spy-vibes of "Teenage Killer" or the Theremin-powered "Martian" reveals. In the former, Dale and Eddy get dragged outta the reverb silo by an angry mob of Cramps and Panther Burns fans and get buried up to their necks in the local graveyard (not an easy task when you factor in the rock-hard caliche soil of the Arizona desert); meanwhile, the titular murderess - all of 17 years - slinks away smirking as an unholy twang slowly recedes in the distance. One suspects a B-movie script may one day be culled from the lyrics of this song (hold that thought). And for "Martian," following the spooky Theremin intro that'd make Joe Meek proud, the band ploughs into an interstellar spaghetti western theme that's simultaneously minimalist and widescreen.

The Rebel Set's been around for about five years now, issuing the Teenage Killer EP in 2008 and following that up this past April with the Poison Arrow full-length. The trio has toured steadily throughout the Southwest, additionally gracing several regional compilations, and with plans to expand their touring reach, there's a good chance the rest of the country will soon be able to get a firsthand taste of their raw, unfiltered twang. (And sharp attire, too - these guys don't fuck around in concert, donning suits and often utilizing classic film footage as part of their stage presentation.) Oh, and about that band name: it was lifted from a 1959 B-grade teensploitation film, The Rebel Set, directed by Gene Fowler, Jr. and starring Gregg Palmer. According to IMDB.com, it concerns "three beatniks are brought together to rob an armored car, only to face betrayal from amongst their ranks." Classy!

The band:

Joe Zimmerman - guitar, vox
Jeff Doing - drums
Chad Kaffer - bass

Check out The Rebel Set's MySpace and Facebook pages for info, tour dates, song samples, links to videos, and more. Meanwhile, founder and frontman Zimmerman sat down for the proverbial BLURT grilling - which included, not insignificantly, his thoughts on the recent (and apparently ongoing) flap his state's controversial illegal immigration law.

***

BLURT: You formed in Phoenix around 2006 - how did the band come together, and what influences do you feel have been key in developing your sound?

ZIMMERMAN: The band started out with a friend and I just playing in my living room for fun. I hadn't done anything musically in a while and was pretty reluctant to start playing out again but we wrote a few songs and things sounded pretty good so we figured we'd give it a try. The line up kind of evolved over the first couple of years. We went through eight drummers in a fairly short period of time before we got Jeff. Chad joined the band late last year when our previous bass player Mike [Benson] had to leave to concentrate on his day job.
I've always been a big fan of old surf and garage rock as well as the 90's lo-fi garage stuff. Chad is into a lot of Midwestern indie bands and a lot of jazz and blues stuff; he plays guitar in a band called Thankful Birds that is more reflective of those influences. Jeff's tastes are really all over the place and we are all fans of early punk and new wave stuff.


Tell us a little about your debut EP and the full-length, and maybe some insights into how the songs are created.

Our debut EP has some of the first songs we ever wrote on it including the title track "Teenage Killer." The opening part of that song started out as something I came up with really early on when we didn't have many songs. It is one of the few songs that came together at a practice with the whole band there. I'm not really good at "jamming" so to speak, and I tend to work better alone. Most of our songs I sort of half-way write and then I'll record them and give the recordings to the rest of the band. They'll pick out the ones they like the best and figure something out for it. By the time we actually play the song together it already sounds pretty good. I guess it is a pretty unusual way to write songs but it seems to work for us.
As for as the songs on the album, "Teenage Killer" would obviously be one [that I like best] since we released it on the EP and the album. We also like "Martian" a lot, and I especially like it beca - Blurt Magazine

By Lauren Cusimano


The Rebel Set is a talented surf rock band that is definitely something to be recognized as a local sound off the beaten path.

The Rebel Set consists of guitarist and vocalist Joe Zimmerman and bassist Steve Day. "We have drummers coming and going all the time," Zimmerman said. "We don't have a permanent drummer right now, so if you happen to know any, send them our way."

Fans of old-fashioned surf punk enclosed with a fuzzy garage sound will definitely find a home at their shows, along with enjoying a personal spin of the anticipated album.

Zimmerman and Day were friends in high school and are now the co-founders of the band's year-long ride thus far.

"I've been playing guitar about 15 years," Zimmerman said. "I've been playing various other instruments my whole life, and Steve's pretty much the same way."

The Rebel Set is on the brink of releasing its first full length record.

"We recorded an album that will hopefully be out in March," Zimmerman said. The expected record most likely be a self-titled release. "We are working on the artwork and once that is done, it will be sent off to be pressed."

The recording process was quick and painless for The Rebel Set. "I just wanted it to be really simple for the first one," Zimmerman said. "Maybe next time we'll get more elaborate and spend more time."

"We just did it all live in as few takes as possible," Zimmerman said. "Maybe it'll get a name when it's done."

The Rebel Set got their band name from the 1959 Gene Fowler Jr. film and is not to be confused with those other guys from Ohio. Basically, support your local Rebel Set.

"I just have a bunch of bad movies and when we were trying to pick a name" Zimmerman and Day landed on The Rebel Set. "Picking a name is always hard," Zimmerman added. "It was actually the drummer that we had at the time. He suggested that we steal that (film title) name."

Some of the band's influences include: Link Wray, Rocket From The Crypt, The Tornados, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Holly Golightly, The Raveonettes, Buddy Holly, Duane Eddy, The Buzzcocks, The Ventures, The Original Surfaris, Lee Hazelwood, Nancy Sinatra, The Ronettes, Al Casey, Hubb Kapp and the Wheels, and Ryan and the Wipers.

Zimmerman admitted his ownership of a Rocket From The Crypt ring. "I'm not really a ring-wearing type of person," Zimmerman said. "I just have it. I thought it was cool."

When asked what bands have stood the test of time, Zimmerman said, "I guess I'd have to say The Ramones just because Steve and I have both liked them...since forever."

The Rebel Set put on a flawless show that is both calming and exhilarating.

"We only have one show coming up that I know of," said Zimmerman. "It is on Jan. 24 at Hollywood Alley with Antique Scream and Leopold and His Fiction from San Francisco."

"We have some other shows in the works but nothing official right now. We are kind of taking a break from playing shows while we finish our record."

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/rebelset or find Hollywood Alley on Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. for their set in Mesa.

- College Times

From the reverb-heavy spy-rock instrumental that ushers you into the album to the lo-fi psychobilly swagger of a final track called "14th Floor," the Rebel Set's first full-length effort, "Poison Arrow," effortlessly lives up to the promise of the band name (a B-movie reference) and album art based on "The Man With the Golden Arm." The lead guitar is steeped in all the classic surf and spy-rock moves, but the overall vibe of the record is closer in spirit to the lo-fi garage-punk aesthetic of acts like Billy Childish and the Mummies.

THE REBEL SET CD RELEASE PARTY
When: 9 p.m. Friday, April 9.
Where: Hollywood Alley, 2610 W. Baseline Road, Mesa.
Admission: $5.
Details: 480-820-7117, myspace.com/hollywoodalley.

As guitarist Joe Zimmerman (no relation to Dylan) explains his fascination with the surf sound, "As a kid, I bought a lot of garage-sale records and there was never any shortage of Ventures records and things like that at garage sales, so that's probably where my initial interest in that kind of music came from."

One of the Rebel Set's previous drummers suggested the band name when he saw a DVD of the 1959 B-movie (directed by Gene Fowler, Jr. of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" fame) at Zimmerman's house.

Asked what he thinks of the movie, Zimmerman says, "It's OK, not especially good. It's about these beatniks who are hired to rob an armored car and mayhem ensues."

The Rebel Set released a four-song 7-inch called "Teenage Killer" in 2008. The new release may sound a little rougher, the guitarist says, "which was somewhat intentional."

It's not that Zimmerman thought "Teenage Killer" was too slick. But they'd done some recording since then that he did think felt a little slick, so they scrapped it and did their best to get a lo-fi vibe for "Poison Arrow."

All the songs are Rebel Set originals, which is kind of unusual on a scene where selecting the right obscure covers can be as important as writing a great new song that embodies the spirit of those covers. But it's not as though they meant to put the focus on original material.

"I think part of it," Zimmerman says, with a laugh, "is that we're never able to agree on anything. So we talk about playing a cover song from time to time but it never ends up happening."
- Arizona Republic

From the reverb-heavy spy-rock instrumental that ushers you into the album to the lo-fi psychobilly swagger of a final track called "14th Floor," the Rebel Set's first full-length effort, "Poison Arrow," effortlessly lives up to the promise of the band name (a B-movie reference) and album art based on "The Man With the Golden Arm." The lead guitar is steeped in all the classic surf and spy-rock moves, but the overall vibe of the record is closer in spirit to the lo-fi garage-punk aesthetic of acts like Billy Childish and the Mummies.

THE REBEL SET CD RELEASE PARTY
When: 9 p.m. Friday, April 9.
Where: Hollywood Alley, 2610 W. Baseline Road, Mesa.
Admission: $5.
Details: 480-820-7117, myspace.com/hollywoodalley.

As guitarist Joe Zimmerman (no relation to Dylan) explains his fascination with the surf sound, "As a kid, I bought a lot of garage-sale records and there was never any shortage of Ventures records and things like that at garage sales, so that's probably where my initial interest in that kind of music came from."

One of the Rebel Set's previous drummers suggested the band name when he saw a DVD of the 1959 B-movie (directed by Gene Fowler, Jr. of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" fame) at Zimmerman's house.

Asked what he thinks of the movie, Zimmerman says, "It's OK, not especially good. It's about these beatniks who are hired to rob an armored car and mayhem ensues."

The Rebel Set released a four-song 7-inch called "Teenage Killer" in 2008. The new release may sound a little rougher, the guitarist says, "which was somewhat intentional."

It's not that Zimmerman thought "Teenage Killer" was too slick. But they'd done some recording since then that he did think felt a little slick, so they scrapped it and did their best to get a lo-fi vibe for "Poison Arrow."

All the songs are Rebel Set originals, which is kind of unusual on a scene where selecting the right obscure covers can be as important as writing a great new song that embodies the spirit of those covers. But it's not as though they meant to put the focus on original material.

"I think part of it," Zimmerman says, with a laugh, "is that we're never able to agree on anything. So we talk about playing a cover song from time to time but it never ends up happening."
- Arizona Republic

Rebellious youth
By Spencer Patterson
As UNLV tips off against BYU in the Mountain West Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals Friday night at the Thomas & Mack, another band of Rebels springs into action just up the road. The Rebel Set, a spiffy surf/garage trio from the Phoenix area, help ring in Neon Reverb Night 2 at Yayo Taco, off Maryland Parkway near the UNLV campus.
The time conflict with the postseason basketball game might explain the sparse showing at the college-y hangout, but it hasn’t kept away one young fan—a 3-year-old boy who bounces endlessly to the Arizonans’ smartly updated takes on the sort of fun-yet-ominous music Duane Eddy and The Ventures played in the late ’50s and early ’60s. “He’s my favorite fan,” frontman Joe Zimmerman quips mid-set. “I’m glad we were able to win him over.”
The Rebel Set, which recently released second album Poison Arrow, has played the Double Down on several occasions, but had never ventured east of Paradise Road for a Vegas show before. Next time, the band might wanna keep an eye on those other Rebels’ schedule. - Las Vegas Weekly

Rebellious youth
By Spencer Patterson
As UNLV tips off against BYU in the Mountain West Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals Friday night at the Thomas & Mack, another band of Rebels springs into action just up the road. The Rebel Set, a spiffy surf/garage trio from the Phoenix area, help ring in Neon Reverb Night 2 at Yayo Taco, off Maryland Parkway near the UNLV campus.
The time conflict with the postseason basketball game might explain the sparse showing at the college-y hangout, but it hasn’t kept away one young fan—a 3-year-old boy who bounces endlessly to the Arizonans’ smartly updated takes on the sort of fun-yet-ominous music Duane Eddy and The Ventures played in the late ’50s and early ’60s. “He’s my favorite fan,” frontman Joe Zimmerman quips mid-set. “I’m glad we were able to win him over.”
The Rebel Set, which recently released second album Poison Arrow, has played the Double Down on several occasions, but had never ventured east of Paradise Road for a Vegas show before. Next time, the band might wanna keep an eye on those other Rebels’ schedule. - Las Vegas Weekly