The completist in me compelled the purchase of Devils Rats
and Piggies. And like The Quality of Mercy I was reminded
of the Entertainment and Solid Gold! by the Gang of Four, but
nowhere near as good. Not until Fear and Whiskey did they
become the terrific band that can inspire such devotion witnessed
by the existence if this group. Yes, pre-84 Mekons had their
moments, but listen to, say, Honky Tonkin', a quality album.
And do you not think that the Wacos sound like a Mekons tribute
band? Some good songs, but they do not reach the peaks
of post 84 Mekons (FUN 90 excepted, obviously). Now this will
not deter me from going to see the Wacos in Sheffield, it'll be
a great show, blokes playing country whilst sort of keeping
time, and if Sally Timms is also playing, well, she has such a great
voice, but it's a shame about her songs. Has anyone heard that album
Someone's Rockin' My Dreamboat? What a shocker!
Just my 2p's worth.
Bye,
George Forsyth
in short reply to george's comments...
some mekons devotees are extremely fond of the early days - i still think
"where were you?" is their finest moment, though i love "fear and whiskey",
and am especially fond of "the english dancing master" e.p.. among others.
the "mekons
story" album was a big favourite of mine when it came out on CNT, and i
still love
that rank amateurism and cheap experimentation.... the sense of anarchic
englishness of "eden", "frustration" and "this sporting life" finds such a
close
accord with experiences (desperation) of the time (thatcher, mass
unemployment, right wing
trouble, second wave punk rock, destruction of manufacturing industries etc
etc),
just listen to the bloody words for christ sake! the mekons were, and still
are, one
of the seminal bands of the punk rock era. you can't change history! (well,
you can, but
let's not get into that one!)
yes, the later stuff has some wonderful moments, but i think the edge went a
little after "edge of the world" and the move to the US. doesn't mean i
don't love
the "me" album and lots of other later stuff, but "honky tonkin'", though
enjoyable,
is a little too polished for my ears. similarities with the gang of four
aren't so helpful
either - i mean, "entertainment" is fucking wonderful, but the later stuff?
- please!
i agree with some of your comments on the wacos etc, and i have been a
little disappointed
at times with solo ventures beyond the core unit (though some parts still
shine through -
i liked the skull orchard album and some of sally's solo stuff... also the
early wacos before
they tried producing their records!). to my mind it also represents a move
away from
english/welsh/british concerns of the early mekons and a more american
perspective,
some maybe it's just the close emotional tie with the lyrics that gets
strained?
still, i will continue to buy the records and listen intently to them till
it drives everyone
who comes round mad, and i am looking forward to the new album with baited
breath...
and i'll be at the wacos show in london and it'll be a fun night out i'm
sure.
sorry this short reply turned into a longer rant! just my two penneth
aswell...
russ
I agree with almost every opinion that Russell expressed. It strikes me that
there are at least two types of Mekons fans, divided by when they were first
exposed to the Mekes, and possibly also by age and geography. Although I'm
American (Canadian by birth), and not from the UK, I came to the Mekons in
the late Seventies via my intense attraction for UK punk and post-punk. So
talk about "No Depression", the Handsome Family, and various Chicago bars,
bands and side-projects leaves me cold. I simply don't know what people are
talking about! However, the discussion of Leeds bands a few months ago (Au
Pairs, Delta 5, Go4) brought back waves of nostagia for the distant past.
Still like some of what comes out of the Mekes camp these days, and have
high hopes (as always) for the new record. I don't hope for echoes of their
earliest stuff, nor of the Fear and Whiskey era high point, but let's have
some feelings and some real songs again, not pastiches and doodling!
Steve H.
>there are at least two types of Mekons fans, divided by when they were
>first
>exposed to the Mekes, and possibly also by age and geography.
I think for some of us it's a bit more convoluted. I loved the band from the
moment I first heard "Where Were You" and continued to follow them through
the Quality Of Mercy album and the next singles. (At the time I considered
them to be an improved, more vulnerable and human answer to the Gang Of
Four!)
Then they lost me for a while. Like other original punks (Rotten/PiL,
Alternative TV, Wire...) disillusioned by the scene being taken over by
violent audiences and a lack of imagination and creativity from the newer
bands, the next records took an odd turn, going confused, insular, and at
times downright pretentious. Not that the early 80's didn't offer some
amazing moments, but let's face it, it was pretty hit or miss. And then,
like a lot of people, Fear And Whiskey took me by surprise...
>Still like some of what comes out of the Mekes camp these days, and have
>high hopes (as always) for the new record. I don't hope for echoes of their
>earliest stuff, nor of the Fear and Whiskey era high point, but let's have
>some feelings and some real songs again, not pastiches and doodling!
The new album is great BECAUSE it's not a rehash of the Sin sound (why do a
pale imitation of things you've already done wonderfully?); it takes all the
experiments in rhythm, mood and digital editing the band fooled around with
through most of the 90's and applies them to exactly that: "feelings and
real songs". But it's NOT a country record by any stretch of the
imagination. More a reggae record, maybe.
> > and am especially fond of "the english dancing master" e.p..
I second that emotion; too bad that one's nigh impossible to obtain. Hey
Quarterstick!!
> > "honky tonkin'", though
> > enjoyable,
> > is a little too polished for my ears.
With a band this eclectic, it's hardly surprising different fans would be
partial to completely different phases. My own personal all-time favorite is
So Good It Hurts, an album which few others rate at all. I also like Edge Of
The World far more than Fear And Whiskey. (Sally and Rico make their
debuts...what more could you ask for?!!) Hated Me at first; now I admit to
loving parts of it, especially after seeing the tour that followed that
album's release.
Yeah, so what, more opinions, who cares? My only point is that you could
take any 10 Mekons fans and ask them their favorites and probably not a
single one would agree.
But trust me on this one: Journey To The End Of The Night is a milestone
that almost all of us are going to be able to rally round. (I qualify that
with "almost" because you must always allow for the contrary bastards in any
crowd.) Absolutely fuckin' beautiful.
-Neo
I highly agree with Russell and Neo and just want to add my thoughts about
that period question. I bought all Mekons records I could get right from the
beginning and if I look back it's rather hard to say why the Mekons were
something special then. There were a lot of good first records by bands,
some even better second ones. But only a few succeeded in keeping the high
innovative charachter British punk records had.
(And I see it more as a joke that I witnessed many US people who compared
Mekons to Go4, who were great with Entertainment and could make an equally
good follow-up)
I know that it was very much a question of attitude with Quality, a question
of unexpected sound experimentation with the second (In those days there was
one lp a week which shook the walls of the city.) The third left me very
disturbed at a moment when I had already thought the Mekons were gone. I
didn't expect the great songs of Fear and whiskey or Edge. By then I was
convinced that they were one of the greatest bands that ever existed. But
what really shook me were the 2 polished records Honky tonkin and So good it
hurts. Feelings and real songs is a good description what I loved them for.
Honky tonkin is well produced in comparison to Wacoworld which many think as
overproduced. Since those 2 records it's one of the great mysteries how an
amateurish and anti-professional band can make such classical records. And I
never stopped wondering.
If I'd have to say what I didn't like I'd take the dub sound of Fun or ME. I
wonder how many songs from ME will stay in the live repertoire. They will
play WWY and Fletcher for .... to come. The quality of ME is the concept and
the very good production, but the songs lack.
SO expectations are high for the new one: great songs and reggae (as Neo
said) can't be wrong.
Nobby
Dear Mekoniacs,
But one who has "Devils Rats" etc has "Snow" which back
in the day came out as a vinyl single and was round my house
judged as second only among all their songs at that point
to "Where Were You" --and just for its romantic apocalypticism,
which got the mood of the uncertain transition out of Callaghan/
Carter to Thatcher/Reagan just right, and then of course all
came true with the full madness of the 1980s. So "Snow" is
proleptic, prophetic, looks forward to the Sin records. So
early/late, well yes, I don't mean to split hairs with George
Forsyth (I roughly agree with what he says) -- but "Devils
Rats" is a late early record, if you see what I mean, with
"Trimdon Grange" as well as "Snow", even though it's that
strangely distanced version of it, like it's too embarrassing
to do it straight, which it probably was, I can see how you
might have thought that, especially then.
Michael Walsh
When I got my copy of _Retreat From Memphis_ I played it a whole hell of a
lot in the office and a younger colleague -- who thought the Stone Temple
Pilots really were elegant bachelors (apologies to Pavement) -- told me what
a great CD it was. I decided very quickly that while I had no idea what
direction the band was going to take on the next album (Pussy?), I was going
to like it and she was going to hate it. That's how it is with the Mekons
-rich'n'pensacola
Hey! I don't toll in much BUT....I have just about ALL their records and I
just pulled out "Curse of th Mekons" and thought To myself THIS has to be up
there as one of MY favorites of theirs! The Mekons to me are THE BEST art
band in the world! And with all kinds of REAL art -some of it works for some
-others think it should be banned. I don't think any of their work has been
banned yet -BUT it could happen! It's all an experiment for them- and that is
the way music should be. I am very much looking forward to the new record!
Just keep your minds open and expect the unexpected!
Mick Gray
SURELY "CURSE" IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPROMISED OVERPRODUCED WORKS IN THE
mEKONS CANON,WHY DOES EVERYONE LIKE IT SO MUCH.
Strange to me how I didn't see *Rock & Roll* come up at all in this thread
on fave Mekons records...it's probably my fave, and seemingly that of at
least a lot of crits as well (not that their ops carry any more weight than a
bloodied and battered Mekes fan of course .)
dan
Yes, it's so "compromised" that it got them dropped from their label.
>SURELY "CURSE" IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPROMISED OVERPRODUCED WORKS IN THE
>mEKONS CANON,WHY DOES EVERYONE LIKE IT SO MUCH.
Odd ... neither of those adjectives applies to the vinyl & CD editions I've
got, so I can only assume that you've somehow tapped into an alternative
reality in which A&M *did* release the album, albeit only after much studio
tinkering, & *didn't* drop the band.
*My* copies include some of the best songs they ever did, like Curse &
Authority & Sorcerer & Lyric & 100% Song, as well as one of their best
covers ever, Wild and Blue ... I shudder to think of what they sound like on
the adulterated release you've gotten ahold of.
On any given day, the version I'm familiar with is my choice for their best
album ever. (I first encountered the band back in '80 or whenever the Mutant
Pop compilation came out, then became even more taken with them when a
friend got Snow/Another One, though with The Quality of Mercy I started
finding them less appealing than interesting ... it took the change of
direction betokened with the Hole in the Ground video to resurrect my
fanhood.)
Dan
Oh sorry. I need to amend my earlier e-mail where I criticised the bulk of
the songs on curse as not grabbing me. I did go through a spell of
obsession with 100% Song where I couldn't stop playing it, reminded again
and again of a show at Maxwells where they ended the show with walking off
stage leading an acapella "LA la la" chorus. (While the recent obsession
was about 100% Song, the Maxwells memory might have been screwed up; it
might have been Shanty. Oh well.
"This is a simulation of a..."
Geo
> one of their best
> covers ever, Wild and Blue ...
Thanks, I was just about to say that. And talk about uncompromised
production... I think they might really have been recording it outside
somewhere, waiting for a car to go by to get the sound. At the very
least, they're out wandering around taping traffic noise to splice in.
And it's not just a classic mekons song but a classic mekons moment. I
mean, shit, Jon Anderson? And that beginning: "Ambulance. Just wot we need."
At the Wacos / Sally show at the Black Cat in DC, Jon got Sally back on
stage at the end of the show, and after telling her repeatedly to "dance
like a chimp," they suddenly found "Plenty Tough and Union Made" (I
think) turning into a blistering rock version of "Wild and Blue" -
everyone careening around blindly. Who knows what would have happened
had the club not pulled the plug at that point.
-Greg
PS What IS it anyway with every club suddenly being so strict about
curfews. It seems every good show I see now gets cut short. Maybe it's
just DC, or maybe it's just nostalgia, but I don't remember that it used
to be like that.
Plus that thing in "Blue Arse": "tiny wings and bloated gut / let's call
that fly... Sir Isaac NEWTON!" I mean, holy shit, you know?
Pull their wings off,
Greg
>> >SURELY "CURSE" IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPROMISED OVERPRODUCED WORKS IN THE
>> >mEKONS CANON,WHY DOES EVERYONE LIKE IT SO MUCH.
the production is stellar. it may be the best sounding album that they've put out next to "me". now, i can understand how some fans used to the ragged glory of their earlier work might find this a bit distastful; but, for me, it's a testiment to their versitility. i don't think that the production was something that they did to satisfy the record executives; but the fact remains that it didn't even do that. i mean, i don't think that anything they would've done would've made them happy after the "rock n roll" debacle. i asked jon langford about it at a skull orchard show and he told me why 'heaven and back' and 'ring o roses' were left off the american release. the record company just told them that they had to take off two songs and as a joke they said 'heaven and back' (which had the biggest single potential on the album) and they just went with it. it was obvious that they just didn't even care.
anyway, i disagree with your implication. "curse" is my favorite mekons album. and i've got them all. i don't think there's a weak song. even 'nocturne'. it's their most diverse and interesting album, and if this was a compromise, then bring on some more!
>> one of their best
>> covers ever, Wild and Blue ...
>
>Thanks, I was just about to say that. And talk about uncompromised
>production... I think they might really have been recording it outside
>somewhere, waiting for a car to go by to get the sound. At the very
>least, they're out wandering around taping traffic noise to splice in.
>And it's not just a classic mekons song but a classic mekons moment. I
>mean, shit, Jon Anderson? And that beginning: "Ambulance. Just wot we need."
i can't get enough of 'wild + blue'. it's one of their songs that i can play for the uninitiated that they always like. how can anyone not like it?
>At the Wacos / Sally show at the Black Cat in DC, Jon got Sally back on
>stage at the end of the show, and after telling her repeatedly to "dance
>like a chimp," they suddenly found "Plenty Tough and Union Made" (I
>think) turning into a blistering rock version of "Wild and Blue" -
>everyone careening around blindly. Who knows what would have happened
>had the club not pulled the plug at that point.
that's probably why they pulled the plug. shades of the doors in miami. they don't want a bunch of drunks tearing up the place. maybe they just fear that damn union commie stuff. damn capitalists. maybe there's someone who determines when the music has become too subversive and tells the management to shut it down. i mean, there's got to be a conspiracy, right?
>PS What IS it anyway with every club suddenly being so strict about
>curfews. It seems every good show I see now gets cut short. Maybe it's
>just DC, or maybe it's just nostalgia, but I don't remember that it used
>to be like that.
it's like that in boston too.
ze kenster
As Dan has put it: some records were less appealing than interesting. That
must have been my view with the first 3 too and it completley changed with
Edge/Fear. So if Rnr and I (heart) Mekons (plus others) have not been
mentioned: RnR is a masterpiece in my view. No overproduction. Great songs
and nothing is missing at all. Honky tonkin and Hurts were best Mekons easy
listening stuff (without ANY bad meaning). Without disturbing songs like
Trouble down south etc, which always made me shiver. By then the Mekons had
become my fav band and I started to mistrust my judgement. (if you see what
I mean)
Curse: I never was a huge fan, although I see its virtues. When I saw them
live performing the album the sound was rather lousy and the only song which
came along fine was Wild and blue. Funeral is one of their important 'theme'
songs imho.
I was disappointed with Retreat: When I heard it first I thought that this
could be the creative end of the Mekons.
Nobby
>I was disappointed with Retreat: When I heard it first I thought that this
>could be the creative end of the Mekons.
>
Same here, I'm sorry to say. In making Mekons comp tapes for people it tends
to get the shortest shrift of anything after Quality of Mercy ... I tend to
go with Insignificance, The Flame That Killed John Wayne, &, ah, the one
whose name I can never remember on which Sally & Sara both sing
(Submerged?), & that's it. (I *like* Eve Future & Lucky Devil, but somehow
to me they seem overly "slick," musically more than production-wise. Not
sure why.)
Dan
In my book, the Retreat album is a bit underrated, but it most definitely
has the air of a band on its last legs. When I first listened to it I
thought, "this sounds like the end of the Mekons". It seems clear they had
to switch to a more experimental direction for a while and get out of the
album-tour rock grind at this point, and the album reflects the grind.
But still...it's got "Insignificance", "Flame", and Tom's wonderful "Do I
Know You?", one of my favorites: "Chemical Wedding", where Sally rides a
hypnotic groove, one of my favorite-ever titles (and I like the song too)
"Spinning Round In Flames"...there are a lot of hidden treasures, but the
album as a whole is so long and murky, and suffers from lack of violin
and/or accordion...too much emphasis on straight Rock, period. (Obviously
Susie was occupied; I love her short cameo, the one minute of noise preceded
by sad monologue, "Missing You All".)
As for Curse, it sits pretty high in my own personal pantheon. I'm very
happy that they put the long version of "Funeral" on the first Hen's Teeth.
There are even more great lyrics and that final chorus just slays me, so
sincere and maybe just a bit corny: "Hang on in there baby..." Love it.
"Lyric" was amazing live.
-Neo
"Curse" came out right after my fixation on the Mekons began (thanks Neil).
As such, it ranks pretty high up there for me. Experiencing the Mekons live
and in person (swoon) was transcendent -- and that's where I heard some of
these "Curse" songs for the first time. So "Curse" is, for me, sentimental
as well as a respectable entry in the Big Book of Mekon.
"Curse" came out right after my fixation on the Mekons began (thanks Neil).
As such, it ranks pretty high up there for me. Experiencing the Mekons live
and in person (swoon) was transcendent -- and that's where I heard some of
these "Curse" songs for the first time. So "Curse" is, for me, sentimental
as well as a respectable entry in the Big Book of Mekon.
I didn't realize until my friend Dr. Dave (head DC-kon) showed me, but
_Retreat_ is sequenced and formatted a lot different on double vinyl -
basically all the rock stuff on an lp and a bonus 12" ep of the dub and
weird stuff. It really makes it easier to "hear" somehow.
Greg Wahl
