The Bob in sumer 1990

The Mekons only rock 'n' roll

So the Mekons developed their own definition of punk with their own amateurish style and a unique sense of struggle and rage. The Mekons borrowed equipment from their friends in Gang Of Four to record their first single: "Never Been in a Riot," recorded directly onto two-track, was a response to the Clash's "White Riot."

While the punkers played fast and luriously, and screamed about the impending fall of civilvation, the Mekons formed a band based on their appreciation of social and personal politics. For the Mekons, life was the darkness on the edge of town, a nightmare they'd rather forget but somehow wanted to replay over and over.

Bolting out Of Leeds as reckless anarchists over 13 years ago, the Mekons have made the transition from punk to country-punk to honky-tonk and back to rock'n'roll. With their latest, and most commercially viable LP, 'The Mekons Rock'nRoll', the Mekons remain as the last gang in town. Non-conformists who revel in the art of human manipulation, the Mekons are the medium by which rock'n'roll myths and big guitar songs unfold. Waving their instruments in the fave of a screwed-up, drunken democracy, the Mekons would like to destroy your safe and happy lives.

Jon Langford, co-founder of the Mekons, claims that forming a punk band in 1977 was a "very obvious thing to do." Overshadowed by their fellow Leeds pals Au Pairs, Delta 5, and the trend-setting Gang of Four, the Mekons were the champions of amateurism. Throughout their history, the band's line-up has changed frequently. The Mekons have been a raving band of musical troubadours who tempered musical proficiency, but disclaimed it in the spirit of punk tradition. They had more in common musically with bands like Dr. Feelgood, the Stooges, and the Buzz.cocks. Although they were lumped together with the other classic punkers at the start, the band, says Langford, "sounded like the Rolling Stones meet Mahavishnu Orchestra."

The Mekons have a lengthy recording history which began with, early singles ("Never Been in a Riot," "32 Weeks," and "Where Were You") released by the Fast label in 1978. Those singles ultimately won them a record deal with Virgin Rccords, who releasod the band's first LP in 1979. That LP, The Quality of Mercy is Not Strnen is a frivolously abusive and crudely enthusiastic musical aberration. The Mercy LP was followed by 'Devil Rats and Piggies a Spesial Message From Godzilla' in 1980. The Mekons then entered a 17-month period of exile, during which it appeared that the band had come to an end. But two years later they offered 'It Falleth Like the Centle Rain-The Mekons Story' an anthology/retrospective of sorts, combining outtakes, drunken dialogue and some new material. And the band continued to record, releasing 'The English Dancing Master' EP in 1983, which combined English country jigs with a strange mix of punk-dub production. The Mekons took a break from recording in 1983, and began an extensive period of live performances.

In 1985 the band returned to the studio, beginning yet another chapter in the Mekons history. Some friends in America had sent the band tapes of a radio show, "Cowboy Joe's Radio Ranch," and the Mekons absorbed the music of such artists as Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat.sy Cline, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and Georgc Slrait. Their love for this music led to a musical and stylisfic breakthrough. The Mekons found a closeness to country music because they identified with its drunken, sinful repression. While not openly political, the Mekons' music is steeped in working-class solidarity. They sing songs about people living on the fringes, and their guitars and fiddles began to bite and kick and twang like a dark and evil Nashville Saturday night.

Such songs during this period as "Hello Cruel World," "Darkness and Doubt," "Hard to Be Human Again," and "Big Zombie," as well as their covers of Merle Haggard, Don Gibson, and Hank Williams tunes, all reflect a faded hope in the human spirit and diminishing personal political power. The Mekons were singing about bars and brawls, cowboys and politicians, miner's strikes and midnight drinking parties. They sang about the power which individuals use to oppress each other. It is the brutal allusion to freedom which is at the core of these punk anarchists' souls.

During this period the Mekons released three albums that thrust them toward critical acclaim. Embracing a rough form of unyielding country-punk, in a period of just over a year 'Fear and Whiskey', 'Crime and Punishment' and 'The Edge of the World' (all on Sin Records) signaled a musical transformation for the band. This period culminated with an EP entitled 'Slightly Sourh of the Border' in 1986, completing the second cycle of Mekons history.

Over the years, the Mekons camp has included upwards of 75 musicians. But in 1985, with re-education and reformation as theior underlying philosophy, the Mekons settled on an almost permanent roster of players. This line-up has remained intact to this day, and includes singer/guitarist Jon Langford, guitarist Tom Greenhalgh, Susie Honeyman on fiddle, Sally Timms as co-vocalist, drummer Steve Goulding (ex-Graham Parker's Rumour), and Mr. Knee on bass.

The Mekons' third musical incarnation began in 1987, with the release of Honky Tonkin'. The Mekons took a few musical twists on their next LP, 1988's 'So Good It Hurts' lapsing into reggae and calypso. But above all it showcased a new unfolding chapter in their history, a raging rock spirit that has finally been fully realized on last year's 'The Mekons Rock'n'Roll', their major label debut on A&M Records.

The 'Mekons Rockn Roll' continues the band's roots-rock, hell-bent attack on populist culture. Subverting the very nature of the beast they grapple with, the record kicks like the Devil, and on it they attack the consumerist ethic that fuels the rock world. They deplore greed, capitalism, and the carnival of American pop culture. On tunes like ~Memphis, Egypt," ~Amnesia," and "Empire of the Senseless," the Mekons r~age with brilliant contempt, expioiting the deee, dark horror of the music they so eloquently embrace. They take this incredible power and it becomes poetie, folk-metal irony.

At onc time they may have plunged off the edge of the world into some profound, reflective abyss. Now the Mekons are reaching back up through the dark hole, and eoming up for air in the filthy smog of rock'n'roll. Over some raunchy Stones-lie guitar solo, Langford sings: "Only darkness has the power."