The Mekons

Or see Mekon (disambiguation).
The Mekons

Mekons circa 2015, left to right: Lu Edmonds, Tom Greenhalgh, Steve Goulding, Sally Timms, Jon Langford, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell (ot pictured: Sarah Corina)

Mekons circa 2015
left to right: Lu Edmonds, Tom Greenhalgh, Steve Goulding, Sally Timms, Jon Langford, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell
(not pictured: Sarah Corina)
Background information
Origin Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Genres Punk rock
Post-punk
Cowpunk
Alternative rock
Years active 1977 – present
Labels Fast Product
Virgin
Blast First
A&M Records
Quarterstick Records
Scout Releases
Bloodshot Records
Associated acts The Three Johns
The Waco Brothers
Website mekons.de
Members Jon Langford
Tom Greenhalgh
Sally Timms
Sarah Corina
Steve Goulding
Susie Honeyman
Rico Bell (aka Eric Bellis)
Lu Edmonds
J. Mitch Flacko
Past members Ben Mandelson
Dick Taylor
John Langley
Kevin Lycett
Mary Jenner
Robert Worby

The Mekons are a British-American rock band. Formed in the late 1970s as an art collective, they are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands.[1][2] Through the years, the band's musical style has evolved, incorporating aspects of country music, folk music, alternative rock and even occasional experiments with dub.[3] They are known for their raucous live shows.[4] These days, The Mekons are often described as a post-punk, cowpunk and/or alt country band.[5] The band is currently based in Chicago.[6]

History

The band was formed in 1977 by a group of University of Leeds art students: Jon Langford, Kevin Lycett, Mark White, Andy Corrigan and Tom Greenhalgh - the Gang of Four and Delta 5 formed from the same group of students. They took the band's name from the Mekon, an evil, super-intelligent Venusian featured in the British 1950s-1960s comic Dan Dare (printed in the Eagle). The band's first single was "Never Been in a Riot", a satirical take on the Clash's White Riot. For several years the loose-knit band played noisy, bare-bones post-punk, releasing singles on a variety of labels. The Mekons' first album, The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen, was recorded using the Gang of Four's instruments, and due to an error by the Virgin Records art department, featured pictures of the Gang of Four on the back cover. After 1982's The Mekons Story, a compilation of old recordings, the band ceased activity for a while, with Langford forming The Three Johns.

By the mid-1980s (revitalised by the 1984 miners' strike) the Mekons had returned as an active group. The band was now augmented by vocalist Sally Timms, violinist Susie Honeyman, ex-Damned member Lu Edmonds, accordionist/vocalist Rico Bell (a.k.a. Eric Bellis), and former The Rumour drummer Steve Goulding. They began to experiment with musical styles derived from traditional English folk (tentatively explored on the English Dancing Master EP prior to the hiatus), and American country music. Fear and Whiskey (1985), The Edge of the World (1986) and Honky Tonkin (1987) exemplified the band's new sound, which built on the innovations of Gram Parsons and blended punk ethos and left wing politics with the minimalist country of Hank Williams. Subsequent albums, such as The Mekons Rock'n'Roll, continued to experiment with diverse instrumentation (notably the fiddle and slide guitar).

The Mekons Rock and Roll was the band's first major label release. Issued by A&M Records in 1989, Rock and Roll was not a commercial success, but it was met with critical acclaim.

Just as the Mekons began to grow in critical stature, their relationship with A&M Records became tense, and the Mekons were soon dropped by the label, unable to fulfill their commercial expectations. However, they continued to record at a prolific rate, releasing such notable albums as 1991's The Curse of the Mekons, 2000's Journey to the End of the Night, and 2002's OOOH![7] Natural moved the band to a more folk-flavoured sound. In April 2009 the Mekons returned to the studio to complete a new collection of songs, released in 2011 as Ancient and Modern on Bloodshot Records.[8]

In a September 2010 interview, Jon Langford revealed that new Mekons album called Ancient & Modern was recorded and that the band would tour the United States in 2011.[9][10]

In a February 2011 interview, Langford discussed the music documentary about the band, Revenge of the Mekons, directed by Joe Angio.[11] The film premiered in 2013 at the DOC NYC festival with members of the band in attendance.[12]

The band has toured and recorded with a mostly unaltered lineup (Langford, Greenhalgh, Timms, Goulding, Bell, Edmonds, Honeyman, and bassist Sarah Corina) throughout the 1990s and early 21st century, and has a highly devoted following.[13]

Their second single, "Where Were You?" was featured in 2016 in an Acura commercial.[14]

Projects

Jon Langford is a visual artist.[15] Langford has worked as the founder and member of several solo and band projects including the Waco Brothers, a punk-meets-Johnny Cash-like ensemble, and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, a project that explores the music of Bob Wills, Johnny Cash and others. Besides his solo albums Langford has released CDs with Richard Buckner, Kevin Coyne, The Sadies, Kat Ex (Katherina Bornefeld) of The Ex (band).

Bloodshot Records is a Chicago, Illinois, record label that has released Mekons solo material by Sally Timms, Jon Langford, Rico Bell and side projects such as the Pine Valley Cosmonauts and The Waco Brothers.

In 2014, a group of The Mekons dubbed "mini-Mekons" along with Robbie Fulks went on a trip to write and record a record on the island of Jura in Scotland.[16] The record, named Jura, will be released in November 2015 on Black Friday and is made up of original songs written on the trip as well as traditional songs.[17]

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Compilations

Miscellaneous

Documentary

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pareles, Jon (30 April 1987). "Rock: Britain's Mekons". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Roberts, Randall (23 June 2015). "Unsung Mekons are a musical beacon of persistence and creativity". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Pareles, Jon (17 December 1989). "Recordings; The Mekons Take Aim at Rock-and-Roll". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Watrous, Peter (30 August 1993). "Review/Rock; A Sound With a Sense Of History, and Humor". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Pareles, Jon (5 July 1991). "Pop/Jazz; The Mekons Shed a Label For a Curse That Works". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  6. ↑ http://www.stereogum.com/1711788/the-10-best-mekons-songs/franchises/10-best-songs/
  7. ↑ Miles, Milo (19 May 1991). "Recordings View; The Mekons Try a Little Wizardry". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Kenigsberg, Ben (28 October 2014). "Critic's Pick: Far-Flung, Long-Lasting and Still Punk at the Core". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Zimmerman, Lee (25 April 2014). "A Fat Welsh Bastard: Jon Langford". Blurt Magazine. Retrieved 21 November 2015. Originally published in 2010
  10. ↑ Martens, Todd (24 September 2010). "A Mekon reflects: 'We've always been stupid enough to keep doing this,' says punk survivor Jon Langford". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Markowitz, Andy (10 February 2011). "The Ask: Jon Langford: What the Mekons Is". MusicFilmWeb. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Tannenbaum, Rob (24 October 2014). "The Cult Band That Keeps on Chugging: A Documentary Celebrates the Mekons". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Kot, Greg (11 July 2015). "Mekons review: Still fierce after all these years". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  14. ↑ Acura (2016-04-25), Acura – Brand – 30 Years Young, retrieved 2016-06-03
  15. ↑ "Jon Langford". Yard Dog. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Allen, Jim (11 November 2015). "Songs We Love: The Mekons, 'Go From My Window'". NPR. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  17. ↑ Moss, Marissa R. (5 November 2015). "Hear Robbie Fulks and Cowpunkers the Mekons' Wild 'Beaten and Broken'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  18. ↑ Breihan, Tom (21 June 2011). "Mekons Announce New Album". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  19. ↑ "Mekons & Robbie Fulks: Jura". Record Store Day. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  20. ↑ Anders, Pat; Spott (16 November 2000). "We (heart) Mekons". Stay Free!. Archived from the original on 20 November 2000. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
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