Mekons

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The Mekons
The Mekons 2015
The Mekons 2015
General information
origin Leeds , England
Genre (s) Punk , alternative rock , post punk , alternative country , folk rock
founding 1977
Website http://mekons.de/

The Mekons were formed as a punk band in Leeds , UK in 1977 . The name comes from the alien antagonists of Dan Dare , the hero of a British science fiction comic series. Since the mid-1980s, they turned to more and more genres such as rock , country and folk , which they interpret in their own way. Today almost all band members live in the USA.

Band history

Guitarist Tom Greenhalgh (2015)
Rico Bell on accordion (2015)
Lu Edmonds at the Bouzouki (2015)
Guitarist Jon Langford (2015)

Founding members are Jon Langford, Tom Greenhalgh, Kevin Lycett, Ros Alien, Andy Corrigan and Mark White. They were art students, some of whom came from the band Gang of Four and are said to have played their instruments for fun. Texts and attitude were more important to her than musical perfection. Right from the start you campaigned for left-wing political goals. The underground success of their single Where Were You brought them a record deal with the Virgin label .

After the members had increasingly devoted themselves to other projects from 1981 onwards, the band got together again in 1984 to support the British miners' strike at concerts.

With their 1985 album Fear and Whiskey they turned more and more to country music, but also recorded reggae , dub and electronic elements. Violinist and singer Sally Timms also joined the band in the mid-1980s. In 1991 Langford followed his US partner to Chicago in the USA. Sally Timms also moved to Chicago in the early 1990s, other band members moved to New York and San Francisco, only Tom Greenhalgh stayed in Great Britain.

The Mekons have released albums at regular intervals over the past few years. They are often set up as concept albums , such as B. me (1998 on the selfishness of the 1990s). Individual band members, especially Jon Langford, but also Sally Timms and Rico Bell, also release records solo and in various other bands (Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Waco Brothers , Gaye Bykers on Acid ).

Jon Langford and Sally Timms have been closely associated with the Chicago label Bloodshot since the late 1990s, which has taken the term "Insurgent Country" (see Alternative Country ) on the flag. Langford is strongly committed to the abolition of the death penalty , for example with his compilation series The Executioners Last Song . Langford is also a recognized visual artist.

The Mekons' current line-up consists of Jon Langford, Tom Greenhalgh, Sally Timms, Rico Bell, Steve Goulding, Sarah Corinna, Lu Edmonds and Susie Honeyman.

Discography (selection)

  • 1977 Never been in a Riot (single) response to The Clashs White Riot
  • 1978 Where Were You (Single)
  • 1979 - The Quality of Mercy is not strnen (LP)
  • 1980 - The Mekons [aka Devils Rats and Piggies a Special Message from Godzilla] (LP) (re-released 1997)
  • 1982 - The Mekons Story, LP (re-released in 1993)
  • 1985 - Fear and Whiskey, LP (re-released in 2002)
  • 1986 - Edge of the World, LP (re-released in 1996)
  • 1987 - The Mekons Honky Tonkin 'LP (re-released in 2004)
  • 1987 - New York, (cassette) (re-released 1990/2001)
  • 1988 - So good it Hurts, LP
  • 1989 - Original Sin, CD
  • 1989 - The Mekons Rock'n'Roll, LP, CD (re-released in 2002)
  • 1991 - The Curse of the Mekons, CD
  • 1993 - I ♥ Mekons, CD
  • 1994 - Retreat from Memphis, CD
  • 1996 - Pussy, King of the Pirates, CD
  • 1996 - mekons united, CD & book
  • 1998 - me (1998), CD
  • 1999 - I Have Been To Heaven And Back, CD
  • 1999 - Where Were You ?, CD
  • 2000 - Journey to the End of Night, CD
  • 2001 - the curse of the mekons / fun '90, CD
  • 2002 - Oooh! CD
  • 2004 - Heaven & Hell (Best of), CD
  • 2004 - Punk Rock, CD
  • 2007 - Natural, CD
  • 2011 - Ancient & Modern, LP, CD
  • 2015 - Mini-Mekons, Robbie Fulks : Jura
  • 2016 - Existentialism, CD, Booklet & Video
  • 2019 - Deserted, LP, CD

bibliography

  • Mekons: Hello Cruel World. Selected Lyrics. Verse Chorus Press, Portland (Oregon), 2002 ISBN 1-891241-14-1

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Info about the record at Bloodshot Records The Mekons operate here as "Mini-Mekons" because not all members of the band were involved in this record
  2. ↑ Hear Robbie Fulks and Cowpunkers the Mekons' Wild 'Beaten and Broken' meeting at Rolling Stone , November 5, 2015