Best Mekons album (Poll closes May 15)

I'd have voted for Fear and Whiskey

tour dates

mostly theaters?? weird. and no maxwell's show ;_;

yeah, the show at the venue closest to me is being billed as a 'quiet evening with the mekons': http://www.ncfta.org/music_detail.php?id=242 VIVA FALL RIVAH!

they did a short acoustic set at galapagos before heading out to maxwell's during their 25th anniv. gigs in nyc, and it was quite a bit of fun, no surprise i suppose.

what's this like, edb?

never been -- i grew up about 15 minutes away from fall river but rarely visited. new bedford's depressing enough, and much, much more interesting, though i try to keep my distance these days. but i'm looking forward to the festa: http://www.portuguesefeast.com/.

last time they came thru i think they were offering the maxwell's show as a "stripped-down" acoustic thing too, but you know the encore was still 'dan dare' so grain of salt etc

The Narrows in Fall River is a great venue. Langford has been there several times to play (once with the Waco Brothers) and exhibit his art. I can't wait.

This band really, really needs a box set.

new LP Ancient & Modern out Sept. 27th, I thought Natural was pretty good so I am anticipating something even better this time.

Really no better than Natural, FYI.

deadspin takes stock

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/a-skeptics-guide-to-the-mekons-1681784000

Trying to get through that Deadspin writer's prose is not always easy

You are not kidding. That was rough going.

yeah, always happy to see overlong rambling about the Mekons but maybe cut out a few clauses per sentence? (Also Journey to the End of the Night deserved more notice, both there and here.)

Indeed. Like for example...

That fits, given what they are and always have been—an idea that almost incidentally worked, a critic’s band that critics have never really written all that much about as an actual band rather than as an abstraction, a cult band with a cult you could fit in a reasonably small room—but it leaves the would-be listener, who’s maybe just interested in them as a recording act, in a curious position, with absolutely no point of entry into their massive discography.

That's both a long sentence and 100% wrong. Fear and Whiskey or Rock and Roll are fine entries into their massive discography, which would take any marginally curious listener all of 20 seconds to figure out.

Speaking of guides to the Mekons, anyone see the new-ish documentary "Revenge of the Mekons"? Quite good in terms of its access to the band. It follows them on tour in 2011, and also offers a coherent vision of their history. Worth a look.

I did, it was lots of fun. There's a great, very long Chicago Reader article from the late 90's following them on tour, one fantastic show and one drunken wreck, and makes me want nothing more than to go on tour with them.

(oh hey Geoffrey. -OC)

If I can just see them once I will be happy.

Hey, OC! Didn't realize you're on here.

Only darkness has the power, y'all!.

"Curse" is really underrated.

Curse is unshakably at the top of my list. Peak Mekons. Peakons. Just the right mix of polish and chaos, beauty and vitriol and toe-tappability.

"Wild And Blue" just slays me, Sally has me in the palm of her hand.

Curse is great and, for a time after the label (Blast First?) went under, one of their hardest albums to find in the US. Sort of sideways my intro to the band, since I used to read Option, and not even counting the Mekons Watch column there used to be a Blast First ad in one of the first few pages of every issue. At the time I couldn't find it, but I did get Rock N Roll.

Glad Alfred ranks OOOH! (Out of Our Heads), which is awesome.

Side 2 Fear and Whiskey is the best of the Mekons but overall it’s Rock nRoll.

Controversial thought: Fear & Whiskey is just OK. It all comes together when they get Sally Timms and Steve Goulding.

Steve's on F&W, right? He's not doing any of the things that really sound like him.