OPO: Mekons

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
I have absolutely no idea what could win this. Only one way to find out.

Scoring goes as follows:
1 song = 4 points
2 songs = 2 points each
4 songs = 1 point each.

For you wiseguys who screw up the math by posting 3 songs, only your first 2 will be counted.

Ready......go!


Last Dance

kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:05 (eighteen years ago) link

"learning to live on your own"

stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:07 (eighteen years ago) link

Snow

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:14 (eighteen years ago) link

clearly "where were you"

ZR (teenagequiet), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:27 (eighteen years ago) link

clearly!

nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Chivalry

Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:39 (eighteen years ago) link

i'll say 2 pts each for "hole in the ground" and "dan dare."

"last dance" is a good choice, though.

zzxjoanw, Friday, 27 January 2006 19:45 (eighteen years ago) link

the building

gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Today I'll say "Trimden Grange Explosion."

marxist/feminist conspiracy™ (xero), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:57 (eighteen years ago) link

Chivalry
Last Night on Earth
Millionaire
Hard to Be Human Again

Scott CE (Scott CE), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Memphis, Egypt
The Building

Douglas (Douglas), Friday, 27 January 2006 19:59 (eighteen years ago) link

I'll cut for "i am crazy" ------

reacher, Friday, 27 January 2006 20:03 (eighteen years ago) link

Hard to Be Human Again
Memphis, Egypt
King Arthur
Millionaire

Chuck B, Friday, 27 January 2006 20:07 (eighteen years ago) link

Where Were You
Fight the Cuts

brokeback titty sanskrit (sanskrit), Friday, 27 January 2006 20:22 (eighteen years ago) link

oops. would like to add Never Been In A Riot, but I guess I can't choose three.

brokeback titty sanskrit (sanskrit), Friday, 27 January 2006 20:29 (eighteen years ago) link

"The Trimdon Grange Explosion"

Dittoismus (Dada), Friday, 27 January 2006 20:30 (eighteen years ago) link

... which sounds like a great name for a psychedelic band but is in fact a mining disaster

Dittoismus (Dada), Friday, 27 January 2006 20:31 (eighteen years ago) link

Chivalry

Lloyd Bonecutter (Lloyd Bonecutter), Friday, 27 January 2006 20:33 (eighteen years ago) link

Memphis, Egypt
Big Zombie
Ghosts of American Astronauts
Hard to Be Human Again

Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 27 January 2006 20:34 (eighteen years ago) link

where were you

don't start a RYE-OTT! (plsmith), Friday, 27 January 2006 20:38 (eighteen years ago) link

last dance
if they hang you

a spectator bird (a spectator bird), Friday, 27 January 2006 21:23 (eighteen years ago) link

Behold! The scores so far...

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

kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Friday, 27 January 2006 21:39 (eighteen years ago) link

"Hard to be Human Again"

Jim M (jmcgaw), Friday, 27 January 2006 21:45 (eighteen years ago) link

"Last Dance"

A|ex P@reene (Pareene), Friday, 27 January 2006 23:25 (eighteen years ago) link

Orpheus

moxie alvarez, Friday, 27 January 2006 23:50 (eighteen years ago) link

"Brutal", since I obviously don't have to vote for "Where Were You".

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

sleeve (sleeve), Saturday, 28 January 2006 00:38 (eighteen years ago) link

Last Dance
Trouble Down South

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

clotpoll, Saturday, 28 January 2006 01:04 (eighteen years ago) link

Though it's tough not to vote for "Thee Olde Trip To Jerusalem,"

almost split my ballot for that one...

gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Saturday, 28 January 2006 01:18 (eighteen years ago) link

Never Been in a Riot
(secret live track on back of This Sporting Life 12")
Hello Cruel World
Where Were You (damn thread!)
Memphis, Egypt

peepee (peepee), Saturday, 28 January 2006 01:47 (eighteen years ago) link

Not a bitter man
Letter's in the post

Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Saturday, 28 January 2006 03:23 (eighteen years ago) link


yeah, this tally is quite biased considering the thread that preceded it.

brokeback titty sanskrit (sanskrit), Saturday, 28 January 2006 03:40 (eighteen years ago) link

meeeeeeeeeeeeeekoooooo

latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 28 January 2006 04:04 (eighteen years ago) link

shih i,msorry

latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 28 January 2006 04:05 (eighteen years ago) link

I'll Have To Dance Then On My Own
Psycho Cupid
Garage D'Or
Rescue Mission

Dr. Joseph A. Ofalt, Saturday, 28 January 2006 04:27 (eighteen years ago) link

Where Were You

Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Saturday, 28 January 2006 11:48 (eighteen years ago) link

where were you

simon 803 (simon 803), Saturday, 28 January 2006 11:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Chivalry + Darkness and Doubt

Harrison Barr (Petar), Saturday, 28 January 2006 17:31 (eighteen years ago) link

Funeral
Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet
Memphis, Egypt
Only You And Your Ghost Will Know

Zwan (miccio), Saturday, 28 January 2006 17:41 (eighteen years ago) link

The Curse

Paul Eater (eater), Saturday, 28 January 2006 17:43 (eighteen years ago) link

Where Were You
Memphis, Egypt
Millionaire
Revenge

Jason Toon, Monday, 30 January 2006 21:46 (eighteen years ago) link

Ghosts of American Astronauts
Fear and Whiskey

The Man in the Iron-On Mask (noodle vague), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 00:29 (eighteen years ago) link

"hard to be human again"
"chop that child in half"

naturemorte, Tuesday, 31 January 2006 01:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Snow

These Robust Cookies (Robust Cookies), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 07:21 (eighteen years ago) link

"Never Been In a Riot"

Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 09:07 (eighteen years ago) link

Fantastic Voyage
Oblivion
Ghosts of American Astronauts
King Arthur

Tehrannosaurus HoBB (the pirate king), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 09:34 (eighteen years ago) link

The latest numbers are in...

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

kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 15:09 (eighteen years ago) link

Chivalry

NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 15:14 (eighteen years ago) link

the contrarian choice: City of London.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 15:34 (eighteen years ago) link

"Only Darkness Has The Power."

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 16:04 (eighteen years ago) link

If anyone has 'Curse of the Mekons' (which I had on a long-since chewed-up cassette), there's a couple of tracks from it I could do with - please see the YSI thread.

Tehrannosaurus HoBB (the pirate king), Thursday, 2 February 2006 18:42 (eighteen years ago) link

OPO - OK it's probably Where Were You but that doesn't need any help so gonna say Teeth since nobody else has

bovarism, Saturday, 14 August 2021 22:30 (three years ago) link

"Teeth" is absolutely top tier, good call

sleeve, Saturday, 14 August 2021 23:30 (three years ago) link

yeah, both the original and the Punk Rock version are great.

have a hard time not sticking with "Last Dance," which I decided was my favorite song at age 16 or so. But "Hard to be Human Again" is amazing to see live, and "Orpheus" is probably my favorite of their many self-referential songs (plus it sounds like they've been reading lots of Russell Hoban).

I was listening to Ancient & Modern a couple weeks ago, it's an interesting album, not the first album i'd recommend to people, but quite worthwhile and "Geeshie" is really wonderful.

youtube.com/watch?v=-TSQ1q6u1hw

JoeStork, Sunday, 15 August 2021 01:01 (three years ago) link

meh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TSQ1q6u1hw

JoeStork, Sunday, 15 August 2021 01:01 (three years ago) link

xp I was SO EXCITED when I saw "Orpheus" in the setlists that I was checking out as the tour progressed, I couldn't place it's origin at first but it's on that amazing art book/CD they did (Mekons United).

sleeve, Sunday, 15 August 2021 03:13 (three years ago) link

Interesting that this thread pops up — I was just thinking earlier this week that the Mekons seem to have disappeared into a black hole as far as cultural relevance; some years ago, people would talk about them much more frequently and now I never see them mentioned as a favorite band, an influence, or anything else. They just seem to have dropped off the radar. Am I wrong?

but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 15 August 2021 16:28 (three years ago) link

Well, they were never popular, and they haven't been fore of critical mind since their major label days, I'd say. They've put out a ton of stuff since then, but they don't/can't do a lot of touring, and they don't get a lot of promotion, etc. That they exist at all is miracle enough for me/most.

Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 15 August 2021 16:38 (three years ago) link

There was a documentary film made about them which possibly helped explain them to those who didn't already know.
I wonder if they are not well-served by the streaming era, because (to me) they are not necessarily the type of band where you hear one song and feel you have to hear more right away. In other words, it is the concept and history of Mekons which would potentially bring in new listeners, and that aspect is not really fed by hearing one song on a playlist or compilation. (I consider myself a minor, not a major fan, but consider them unique.)

Halfway there but for you, Sunday, 15 August 2021 16:54 (three years ago) link

Maybe? Their best stuff is pretty immediate, imo. Recently they've been kind of willfully obscure or high concept, more akin to the shaggy early days. But a couple of the Quarterstick albums are as good and "accessible" as anything they've done.

Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 15 August 2021 18:02 (three years ago) link

Shot this on the hottest day of the year at a small backyard festival in Rhode Island in 2019. Sound is crap, but I was practically on the stage. I kept waiting for Tom Greenhalgh to knock the phone from my hand, as I was right up in his grill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTeL5EgCiJk

TO BE A JAZZ SINGER YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SCAT (Jazzbo), Monday, 16 August 2021 14:31 (three years ago) link

I guess it was too hot for him to do his high kicks.

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 16 August 2021 14:58 (three years ago) link

This past Sunday I was in Evanston visiting a friend and we went out to get lunch, next to the restaurant was a little alley with a little stage getting set up & a couple of people strumming acoustic guitars. As we are walking up I am loudly mentioning how much I love getting a bite and listening to live acoustic folk music in the afternoon, we realize the place we wanted to go to is closed, so we turn and walk back past these two suburban folkies who are just staring daggers at me at which point I recognize them as Sally Timms and Jon Langford.

chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 26 August 2021 20:44 (three years ago) link

Every time I've seen the Mekons, Sally is staring daggers. I think that's her resting face.

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 26 August 2021 21:28 (three years ago) link

Hah, Sally and Jon are the nicest people.

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 26 August 2021 22:04 (three years ago) link

LOL, absolutely. Also, they were just playing acoustic shows around NYC (like earlier this month) - they get around fast!

birdistheword, Friday, 27 August 2021 14:30 (three years ago) link

one month passes...
five months pass...

Freakons is a supergroup of sorts, a pairing of Jon Langford and Sally Timms from long-running UK punk rockers The Mekons and pioneering Kentucky-based alt-country outfit Freakwater’s Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean. After first connecting nearly a decade ago, Freakons is releasing its eponymous debut studio album this Friday on Fluff and Gravy Records.

...The concept is explained surrealistically on “Dark Lords of the Mine,” the opening track on Freakons.

“There’s this crazy thing on YouTube of [legendary actor] Richard Burton on The Dick Cavett Show, this rambling, fantastical monologue on his family’s experiences mining in Wales and that there’s this thread of coal that runs from the Bay of Biscay, through Wales, and all the way to Appalachia,” Irwin says. “We were like, ‘Is this true? I don’t think it is.’ It’s so deranged. But Jon pulled ideas for the lyrics from the interview.”

...In using coal as a narrative thread, Freakons examines its history and its future. The group tells the stories of men and women who sacrificed their health and safety by working in the mines, but also looks ahead to what’s next for workers who are viewed as obsolete in the face of a rapidly evolving society.

“No one really knows what to do if mines become a generational thing of the past,” says Langford. “It’s an existential thing; a whole way of life is going to be changed. There’s a whole group of people who haven’t been taken care of. Trump whipped them up and said he’d bring back coal, but he didn’t. Governments haven’t shown a plan or worked on training or providing jobs in greener industries.”

https://www.nodepression.com/freakwater-and-the-mekons-unite-as-the-freakons-for-rich-vein-of-songwriting-about-coal/?utm_source=No+Depression+Newsletter&utm_campaign=a6b20ada1b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_3_22_22_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_659325596f-a6b20ada1b-226384157&mc_cid=a6b20ada1b&mc_eid=b850f832a1

dow, Saturday, 2 April 2022 01:55 (two years ago) link

four months pass...

Sounds like the Mekons just finished tracking a new album in Spain. Why Spain? Who knows! Will it be another high concept album? Who knows!

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 30 August 2022 18:21 (two years ago) link

I think that was their recording plan for 2020 that got postponed.

JoeStork, Tuesday, 30 August 2022 19:34 (two years ago) link

They've been sharing a few pics of the recording sessions on Facebook

curmudgeon, Friday, 2 September 2022 04:20 (two years ago) link

four months pass...

Maybe it's my non-audiophile old school Koss over-ear headphones, but I've found that listening to the Freakons on free version of YouTube Music while reading lyrics on Bandcamp to be the ideal experience. Words are imaginative enough, without getting(too) arty-gimmicky extending realism through good turns of phrase that streak the coal dust on faces passing through once again, as the compelling music and the people in it push against limits of their situation, which are also limits of the Freakons' basic take: once again, as usual, the miners get reduced, by sympathizers as well as their bosses, so that we get no sense of what made this way of life bearable, and for some, seemingly inevitable--even desirable, financially and otherwise, even while knowing the risks and odds involved----Steve Earle & The Dukes' Ghosts of West Virginia is the only album I know of that speaks to and of this complexity.
But Freakons tunnels through it, for sure, with a tenacious vitality and recurring rowdiness. The women do most of the upfront vocal work, but Langford pitches in back there, and provides a very satisfying closer.

The Mekons’ Jon Langford & Sally Timms and Freakwater’s Janet Bean & Catherine Irwin are joined here by the stellar string and vocal harmonies of Jean Cook (Ida, Tara Jane O’Neil, Skull Orchard) and Anna Krippenstapel (The Other Years, Joan Shelley, Freakwater), along with special guest, the beloved guitar genius Jim Elkington (Jeff Tweedy, Richard Thompson, Eleventh Dream Day, Horse’s Ha, Skull Orchard, Freakwater, The Zincs).

Belgian painter Jo Clauwaert created the album’s intricate gatefold cover. Images from song lyrics and related history emerge and recede again in this gorgeously illustrated artistic fever dream.

dow, Tuesday, 10 January 2023 19:10 (one year ago) link

Thanks for the reminder. I need to listen to Freakons

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 11 January 2023 17:48 (one year ago) link

five months pass...

Saw the Waco Brothers last night in Washington DC. Last show of a 6 night East coast tour. Langford sounded good, and was entertaining and funny with his between song chat. They did a fair amount of songs from their latest album ( and some of those I liked). They also covered Undertones “Teenage Kicks” and Bobby Fuller 4 ( done Clash like) “I Fought the Law” plus a Small Faces song

Langford is going to do some gigs with Will Oldham in the fall ( pr says it will be like a pandemic show they did together earlier)

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 21 June 2023 20:47 (one year ago) link

four months pass...

Saw Langford tonight with Bonnie P Will Oldham. Good show although a bit too much cutting up and goofy sing alongs with audience. I liked when they did Mekons songs. Oldham was in good voice at times. Langford sang one song from the recent Jon Langford and the Men of Gwent album “Lost on Land and Sea”

curmudgeon, Sunday, 19 November 2023 04:28 (one year ago) link

Thanks, hadn't heard of that album!

dow, Sunday, 19 November 2023 04:45 (one year ago) link

I had not either. Langford was just over in Wales for a week publicizing it. No Mekons in that group, other than him.

curmudgeon, Sunday, 19 November 2023 18:04 (one year ago) link

https://jonlangfordthemenofgwent.bandcamp.com/album/lost-on-land-sea

The Bandcamp bio for Langford and Men of Gwent says the November 10th released album is the group's 3rd one. I missed the first 2.

curmudgeon, Sunday, 19 November 2023 18:06 (one year ago) link

Thanks! And now I see that this was added last month:

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0308921547_10.jpg

Jon Langford wants to share his Gubbins with the world - songs that fell between the cracks, tunes too exuberant and twisted to hang with the popular crowd, stuff he just forgot about and pleasantly surprised the old welsh bugger when he rediscovered them in the basement.
released October 6, 2023

Chip Taylor's listed on one track, Sally Timms is on another:
https://jonlangford.bandcamp.com/album/gubbins

dow, Monday, 20 November 2023 00:13 (one year ago) link

two months pass...

how did I miss Existentialism?!? incredible album, with definite throwbacks to the post-punk sounds of the 2nd LP lo those many years ago

dead precedents (sleeve), Thursday, 25 January 2024 20:05 (ten months ago) link

Not sure I ever listened to that one either. It's a live one, recorded in Brooklyn in 2015 I just read.

curmudgeon, Friday, 26 January 2024 02:27 (ten months ago) link

it's really good - I have almost all their albums, only missing ME now I think, plus that Mekons 77 thing, can't believe I missed this altho to be fair it's from 2016

I did not mention itt that I finally got to see them a second time - the first time was an off night in Portland OR in 1992. this time was a sold out show in Seattle in summer 2019, and they were everything I could have wanted and more. I also had too much to drink and got sick later, but thankfully I remember everything up to the encore, then it gets hazy

dead precedents (sleeve), Friday, 26 January 2024 02:33 (ten months ago) link

I recently watched the Revenge DVD documentary, and was struck (speaking of Mekons 77) how close they all still seemed to be, even the ones who left in the early 80s.

dead precedents (sleeve), Friday, 26 January 2024 02:34 (ten months ago) link

three months pass...

I see Jon Langford is over in England and did a BBC interview re Mekons “Where Were You.” Also the Mini-Mekons are doing gigs in Brighton and London. Also Jon Langford and the Bright Shiners are doing gigs there and then in the US in June.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 23 May 2024 16:10 (six months ago) link

The Jon Langford and the Bright Shiners album came out in April.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 23 May 2024 16:15 (six months ago) link

I like the Langford and Bright Shiners album on my first listen ( while doing other stuff in the house).

curmudgeon, Friday, 24 May 2024 21:40 (six months ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBMcsX2RpOc

Langford and Bright Shiners live

curmudgeon, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 18:46 (six months ago) link

five months pass...

New album Horror coming in spring, nice to have something to look forward to. Was listening again to Journey to the End of the Night recently, as I did eight years ago…

JoeStork, Saturday, 9 November 2024 17:22 (four weeks ago) link

Great. The Mini-Mekons have been doing some gigs recently, including one with the Gang of Four. I think Langford has an art exhibit up in Austin now, and has been busy with his art elsewhere too

curmudgeon, Sunday, 10 November 2024 13:38 (four weeks ago) link

Got to see Sally and Jon play a small club in R.I. on Nov. 3. They were accompanied by Fenway Park organist and birthday boy Josh Kantor, who played piano and accordion. A great night.

TO BE A JAZZ SINGER YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SCAT (Jazzbo), Friday, 15 November 2024 20:37 (three weeks ago) link

Speaking of Jon and Sally, they (with Ship and Pilot) did an excellent "Junco Partner" on awes v.a. trib The Sandinista! Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcWrt_bia4M Would love to hear 'em w actual Clash + Tymon Dogg.

dow, Monday, 18 November 2024 19:24 (two weeks ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jePCte2S1u4

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 19 November 2024 16:33 (two weeks ago) link

US tour! UK/EU tour!

sleeve, Tuesday, 19 November 2024 16:36 (two weeks ago) link

That's Rico singing, btw!

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 19 November 2024 16:36 (two weeks ago) link

xp yeah just got a ticket for Lewes in May

Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 19 November 2024 16:42 (two weeks ago) link

They're playing down the street here on my anniversary, fortunately my wife likes the Mekons, too!

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 19 November 2024 16:47 (two weeks ago) link

Might go to the Atlanta show. I saw them there like 25 years ago.

Blitz Primary (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 19 November 2024 18:03 (two weeks ago) link

xp yeah just got a ticket for Lewes in May

I've got one for London. I wonder how on earth they came to be playing in Lewes?

Nasty, Brutish & Short, Thursday, 21 November 2024 20:13 (two weeks ago) link

get quite a few bands from that era playing there. been there a few times for gigs, usually more spiky-haired types - UK Subs, GBH, Varukers, The Boys. I suppose it's pretty close to Brighton but might cost less to put gigs on, and not that far from Eastbourne/Hastings

Colonel Poo, Thursday, 21 November 2024 21:43 (two weeks ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.