OPO: Mekons

"last dance" is a good choice, though.

Where Were You : 16
Chivalry: 9
Trimdon Grange Explosion 8
Last Dance 6
Learning To Live On Your Own 4
Memphis Egypt: 4
Snow: 4
The Building: 6
I Am Crazy: 4
Hard To Be Human Again: 3
Hole in the ground 2
Fight The Cuts: 2
Millionaire: 2
Dan Dare: 2
If They Hang You: 2
Last Night On Earth: 1
King Arthur: 1
Big Zombie: 1
Ghosts of American Astronauts: 1

Nothing at all from Curse... you folks are weird!

Though it's tough not to vote for "Thee Olde Trip To Jerusalem," "Slightly South of the Border," or "Bob Hope and Charity."

almost split my ballot for that one...

Where Were You: 26
Chivalry: 13
Last Dance: 12
Hard To Be Human Again: 9
Trimdon Grange Explosion: 8
Snow: 8
Memphis Egypt: 7
The Building: 6
Never Been In A Riot: 5
Ghosts of American Astronauts: 4
I Am Crazy: 4
Learning To Live On Your Own 4
Orpheus: 4
Brutal: 4
The Curse: 4
Millionaire: 3
Hole in the ground 2
Fight The Cuts: 2
Dan Dare: 2
If They Hang You: 2
Trouble Down South: 2
Letter’s In The Post: 2
Not A Bitter Man: 2
Darkness and Doubt: 2
Chop That Child In Half: 2
Last Night On Earth: 1
King Arthur: 2
Big Zombie: 1
Hello Cruel World: 1
Rescue Mission: 1
Garage D’or: 1
Psycho Cupid: 1
I’ll Have To Dance Then On My Own: 1
Only You And Your Ghost Will Know: 1
Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet: 1
Funeral: 1
Revenge: 1
Oblivion: 1
Fantastic Voyage: 1

ha I saw that, I wish

Sure are a houseful of Mekons and relations here:
https://archive.org/details/aadamjacobs?tab=collection&query=Mekons

(Waco Brothers listed sep. in Jacobs' trove, but not too hard to find.)

holy shit there's a KatJon Band show there, thanks!

Oh yeah---and here's another niche, pretty well-populated: https://archive.org/details/SallyTimms

You get overlaps with some of these, but otherwise unlisted as well, for inst in this:
https://archive.org/details/JonLangford

OH HELL YES

https://archive.org/details/aadamjacobs?tab=collection&query=three+johns

Hadn't thought to look for them, thanks! Pine Valley Cosmonauts also show up if you look for Kelly Hogan---man, she's sung with so many of those Chicago bands, one-offs etc.

Who are the Jelly Bishops?

it's some kind of Three Johns alias

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1739307-Jelly-Bishops

(minus one John apparently)

lmao at one of the Pine Valley Cosmonauts shows from 2002 - Track 2: Rahm Emanuel introduces the band

Oh man a mess of Kelly Hogan shows sounding pristine! <3

yah she is teh best

For a while there you could see these guys, gals and groups all the time here. I'm still starstruck whenever I bump into Langford or Timms.

Haven't listened to "I Heart Mekons" in ages. The production is still weird, but the songs are great.

yep that's a fave

Mekonville in Portmeirion this October…

They're releasing a dub version of the last album called "Horrorble."

https://mekons.bandcamp.com/album/horrorble-mekons-vs-tony-maimone-in-dub-conference

Wonder if Lu will be on the upcoming tour ...

Langford is at S x SW this weekend.

Mekons are gonna do a Tiny Desk sometime during or after their May and June US tour

Again? They just did one last year.

Oops, I misread the Instagram post that said they were following the last US tour and Tiny Desk, with another US tour

Wonder if Lu will be on the upcoming tour ...

PiL announced that they're going to announce (hah) dates for a North American tour this year, and Lu's in the photo they posted, so I'm guessing no. I wish he was touring with the Mekons, but I think they're likely to leave the door open while Lydon would likely just hire a permanent replacement.

Amend that, they announced a CRUISE tour and

also said "Keep an eye out for more PiL North American shows" (apologies, accidentally hit "post")

Post here.

And I got the year wrong, hah, so I guess he may tour with the Mekons after all?

the choice between hanging out with the Mekons and hanging out with John Lydon is a pretty easy one tbh

oh hey cool

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"I'm on this cruise for the buffet, not Johnny."

now that I could see

Looks like the PiL tour starts in September, so ... maybe?

https://outsideleft.com/main.php?story=the-mekons-the-outsideleft-sunday-interview

Interesting interview with Tom there . They have a bunch of projects going on and coming up. His talk about the past spelled out a few things for me to.

There’s a new Mekons song out with Sally on vocals that will be on the Tony Maimone done dub like remix album coming in June when they tour the US again

https://www.firerecords.com/mekons-reveal-new-single-before-the-ice-age-from-their-new-album-horrorble-mekons-vs-tony-maimone-in-dub-conference/

A good recollection of "Where Were You?" here.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/may/25/bowie-t-rex-couldnt-the-mekons-on-how-they-made-where-were-you

That said, I've seen this happen a lot with the Guardian lately, where there is a pull-quote in the headline that's different from the one on the body. In this case, the pull-quote is

It was the total opposite of that “It’s Friday night, let’s have sex” macho mentality that was in most rock music at the time’

Where Were You? was the total opposite of that “It’s Friday night, let’s shag” macho mentality that was in most rock music at the time.

"let's have sex" to make it more international?

I stumbled across the Me (MEkons) album recently and tried it out. It’s really good! They’re one of those bands where I’ll pick up their stuff occasionally out of a sense of obligation and then I’m surprised by how much I like it.

yep I was very late to that one and I love it

Two concerts today, one early, one late. Two concerts next weekend in New York City, one earlier, one late. I am all in on the Mekons! Even bought a special t-shirt. Maybe it is nostalgia, maybe it is mortality, but this is one of those bands I have loved so long and I know they cannot do it forever.

case in point, tom apparently just had surgery for something, so isn't here!

They've got ANOTHER gig in NYC, this time in Brooklyn on (Sunday) June 14, but it's a bit different - I think they're backing David Nagler but I'm not sure what the setlist will be. Could be sea shanties or maybe that's a joke on their advertisement? And it takes place in a bar right above one of the nicest steakhouses in Brooklyn - it actually threw me for a second because I know the steakhouse but not the bar and wondered how they were going to play in a place that was uncharacteristically posh for a rock show?

Actually seafood AND steak, but I just remember the steaks being amazing.

Not least because Tom wasn't there they played some deep cuts, btw. Like "I Am Crazy" from "Rock 'n' Roll." Susie sang "Last Dance."

xp they played Sunken Harbor last year with Nagler as well, but didn't learn about it until after the fact. that said sea shanties as well. hopefully we'll still get a Sally and Jon show at Good Fork again in the near future.

Interesting observation in some newsletter:

It’s also worth mentioning Langford’s extended universe of projects solo and with the Three Johns, Waco Brothers, Men of Gwent, Pine Valley Cosmonauts, et al. because between them, no one person has had their work A-listed by legendary music critic Robert Christgau more times at 25 instances, not even Neil Young (23), Willie Nelson, or Bob Dylan (tied with 18 apiece). And yet the favorite of his fellow legendary music critic Greil Marcus (2000’s Journey to the End of the Night) isn’t even among those 25.

I saw the Mekons in Baltimore last night. A good show although Tom Greenhalgh wasn’t there. Sally said that at the last minute Tom couldn’t make it but he is fine. Jon and Sally both noted that Rico would be busier and handling some of Tom’s spots and he was .

They had a special mic thing to dub echo voices on a few tracks ala the dub version of the Horror album.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-mekons/2026/ottobar-baltimore-md-13752171.html

Mekons did 4 songs from Horror and 3 from that Griel Marcus fave Journey last night in Baltimore

I recall being disappointed in Journey: Langford bragged about using ProTools, which was maybe it sounded finicky and disheveled, like he was picking at old piles of underwear. Did kind of like that Kelly and Niko sounded like Children of the Air Ducts, keening through digital metallic spaces, but that was mostly background.

which was maybe *why* it sounded

Mekons make some of those Journey to the End of Night songs work well live now. Plus lots of between song chatter as always. Langford last night dismissed ai, made jokes about fans being more attracted to Rico and compared Rico's appearance to a French actor, condemned the "racist administration," referenced old poets, and chimed in also regarding part of Ohio near where their Cleveland gig was.