Mekons 30th anniversary album and US tour

No SF. :(

no maxwell's show ;_;

and "Jammin Java" in Vienna is the closest they're coming to me, apparently.

http://www.mekons.de/naturalpromo.jpg

anyway, morbs, will i see you at the gramercy?

I suspect so! Haven't got the tix yet.

Saw em at Maxwells numerous times '86 onward.

anyone buy it yet? I have my Gramercy ticket.

Has the album been released yet? (lazy sod that I am, I can't be bothered to check Amazon)?

needs more?????????

It was, yesterday.

Holy shit! Amazon here I come.

Listening to the album now.

What's it like? Does it sound anything like OOOH! or Punk Rock?

It, disappointingly, sounds like one of their early nineties album: crunchy guitar, dourly cheerful lyrics, lots of marimba. Tom's in great voice, though. OOOH! more than ever sounds like the best kind of epitaph.

*early nineties albums

So basically it's an I Heart Mekons retread? Marimba? That could be interesting.

or Curse Of.... It's not bad, but certainly not the every-prole-for-himself apocalypto vibe of OOOH!

From rolling country:

I'm finding the Mekons' imminent (and supposedly inspired by "the wilds of the English countryside") Natural (due out in August) supremely lazy and lackadaisical and annoying, even more so than most of the other stuff they've put out in the nearly two decades now since I stopped caring about them. I mean, I know half-assedness and sloppiness and not being able to sing on-key were part of their raison d'etre from the gitgo, but there is a point when such flatness stops being charming and starts being a boring crutch, and I swear for these guys that happened not too long after, I dunno, Edge of the World I guess. I know some people believe they've made great albums since then (just re-read a great piece about them that Luc Sante did for me back at the Voice in his great new collection of essays book, and even he says so), but I've never heard it. Regardless, I'm having trouble believing that anybody is going to fall for this new one, though I don't doubt I'll be proved wrong. Jon Langford sounds approximately as tired as Nick Lowe and Ian Hunter have this year, if not more so. Worst cut I've noticed: An emaciated attempt at reggae called "Cockermouth" that I find downright painful to listen to. And once upon a time, the Mekons did reggae, or at least dub, and mixed it into the Brit death-folk, real good. But somehow, somewhere along the line, their Brit-folk lost whatever beauty it once had, and forget having the rhythmic jig energy to inspire any actual English dancing masters; that went by the wayside years ago, too...Though who knows, I suppose it's possible a Martian landing in his spaceship would have a hard time distinguishing this stuff from Fear and Whiskey. But what the hell do Martians know? For such a proudly unproffesional act, this band long ago turned into the moral equivalent of wheel-spinning pros, and on the new album, they seem to matter less than ever. (On the other hand, I don't doubt that there are many words referencing world-historical events from the past few years. As if that could ever be enough.)

-- xhuxk, Sunday, May 27, 2007 6:58 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Link

otm about "Cockermouth."

hmmmm, I think Curse Of.... is one of their 5 best albums.

I stopped reading the above at "the nearly two decades now since I stopped caring about them."

Curse might be my favorite full length of theirs!

I also like I Heart Mekons, so I will be curious to hear this. I also think their output has been decidedly sub par since 1994 or so.

didn't you dig Punk Rock when it came out, Chuck? I remember you trying to sell it on me (didn't work)!

Yeah, I liked that one,but it was all old songs!

Matos' brief review of the new release:

http://www.avclub.com/content/music/mekons

Bah! Just when I was really looking forward to listening to this.

Finally got my copy a few days ago and I gotta say that, on first hearing, I'm more or less inclined to agree with Alfred's take on it (although I can't really hear what's so bad about "Cockermouth"). Mostly, it just seems to me like this band has pretty much forgotten how to write catchy, anthemic songs--although doing so probably wouldn't have fit their all-too (prematurely?) mournful concept too well, I guess.

Anyhow, here's xgau's review of it from the RS site:

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/15810558/review/16053500/natural

I agree with the 3 star grade. (Matos' B- seems a bit too low in retrospect.)

Is there an opening act on this tour?

see you there, guys!

(maybe)

sweet irony, I will be in the UK when they are in new england

xp

Not if I see you first!

Danbert Nobacon, ex of Chumbawamba, is opening

picked up 'natural' in burlington, vt during my recent two-week bicycle tour (nyc - montreal - boston), and carried it for two days before finally being able to listen to it at my friend's house in lunenburg, vt. it sounded great while preparing a good meal and drinking at night in the remote woods of the northeast kingdom!

really looking forward to the show, though i understand that the narrows is alcohol-free, wtf.

The Narrows isn't alcohol-free, it's BYOB. Bring whatever you want.

oh that's good news, thanks!

who has seen this album at all in NYC? OM never has it, and I'm not paying $17 at Virgin.

Buy it on iTunes!

haha i bought mine on amazon

to quote Thurston Moore, "fuck online"

ghosty, email me if you wanna meet at Gramercy.

good idea!

Far Virginia suburbs of DC on Monday

But I'm gonna miss that Vienna, VA gig as my son's got a baseball game. Nobacon is opening.

I haven't heard this album yet, but looking forward to when i do.

the Langford-Timms banter is as funny/sour as ever (she's sort of the weary Mary Poppins of the band by now)

was last night's show acoustic? and did they perform a range of material or mostly new stuff?

It was semi-acoustic. Even for plug-in songs like "Hard to be Human" the full oomph wasn't quite there. Maybe 5 songs from Natural (which I bought at the show)? Plenty of oldies.

I inspired a discussion by that Mekons Fanatic Couple who worked the merch table over whether my Distressed Patsy Cline t-shirt from '93 was authentic, cuz MEKONS was in white. Mrs. Fanatic had the same shirt on with MEKONS in RED!

I scored a copy of Tom's solo album at the show -- sounds good so far!

Haven't listened to Natural yet, but the Seattle show Wednesday was energetic. Langford's 50th birthday party was held at the after-party at the Tractor (couldn't go due to early am flight), and the "old man" banter was thick. The venue was weird - Town Hall, which used to be a (presbyterian? methodist?) church and the seats are still the pews and the stage is the altar and there was no alcohol to be found for the audience. Tom Greenhalgh was absent due to his wife delivering their 4th child, Langford looked like a one of those round happy granddads, and Dr. Morbius OTM re Timms.

Harvilla column on NY show is unimpeachable:

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0741,harvilla,78016,22.html

Ha - that really is pretty damn terrific!

From Harvilla's write-up:

"Whether you enjoy Natural is immaterial...it's mostly just an excuse to tour"

I find this incredibly depressing, since this record, much like OOOH and Journey to the End of the Night, is inspired, focused, well-played, interesting, vital, and full of ideas. They deserve attention for their current work, and it would be deserved if "Journey" was their debut album. The fact that the material on Natural shares many rhythmic characteristics with their earliest material only adds to the degree that they should be appreciated.

I keep wondering how on earth everyone with taste doesn't feel the same, but I guess we're all different. Still, I'm mystified!

So the Mekons part of last night's show at the Fitzgerald Theater was great, but jesus christ shut up annoying lady from the Current. And do some goddamn research so that half your questions aren't answered with "No I don't feel that way at all" or "I don't know, I wasn't in the band then." And I don't really give a shit about Greil Marcus's opinions on Jakob Dylan or his anti-Lucinda Williams tirades.

But yeah, great music, about 5 songs from Natural, Jon Langford riverdanced during "Cockermouth," no Tom, "Thee Olde Trip to Jerusalem," "Ghosts of American Astronauts," lots of bickering.

Random googling reveals that nearly all the lyrics of "Powers and Horror," the big drunken saddo singalong, are taken from a Cicero speech condemning Antony's vile sexual behavior.

No Tom!

Yeah, he was with his many young children, so they dedicated "Slightly South of the Border" to him.