The Mekons

The Mekons sono un gruppo rock britannico, uno dei gruppi più prolifici tuttora in attività, tra quelli nati dalla prima ondata del punk rock.

Formatosi nel 1977 da cinque studenti dell'Università di Leeds: Jon Langford, Kevin Lycett, Mark White, Andy Corrigan e Tom Greenhalgh presero il nome da The Mekon, arcinemico dell'eroe dei fumetti per ragazzi Dan Dare. Dallo stesso gruppo di studenti universitari nacquero due altri gruppi: i Gang of Four e i Delta 5.

Il loro primo fu Never Been in a Riot, ripresa in tono satirico del successo dei Clash White Riot e poi pubblicata sull'EP Fast Product. L'esordio su album avvenne nel 1979; The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen fu registrato usando la strumentazione dei Gang of Four, la Virgin Records stampò sul retro dell'album per errore una foto dei Gang of Four.

Dopo il secondo album, l'eponimo The Mekons del 1980 e la raccolta di inediti e singoli The Mekons Story il gruppo cessò temporaneamente l'attività. Il leader Jon Longford formò un nuovo gruppo, The Three Johns. Questo primo periodo è caratterizzato da sonorità post-punk ed un'intensa attività live.

Il gruppo si riunì verso la metà degli anni 80 spinto anche dallo sciopero dei minatori del 1984. Accanto a Longford e Gleenhalgh si affiancarono altri musicisti, tra cui: la cantante Sally Timms, la violinista Susie Honeyman, Lu Edmonds, il polistrumentista Rico Bell (a.k.a. Eric Bellis) ed il batterista Steve Goulding, in precedenza con The Rumour. Con questa nuova formazione il gruppo virò verso un rock con una forte componente folk e country. I tre album del periodo, Fear and Whiskey (1985), The Edge of the World (1986) e Honky Tonkin (1987) fondono su una base di etica punk il country rock di Gram Parsons, testi politicizzati di sinistra ed il country minimalista alla Hank Williams.

Nel 1989 il gruppo pubblicò l'album forse di maggior successo di critica, The Mekons' Rock'n'roll (A&M Records), dove il gruppo introdusse l'uso di fiddle e slide guitar. Il mancato successo commerciale portò però a dissapori con l'etichetta che risolse il contratto. Il gruppo proseguì negli anni successivi con lavori sempre più intrisi di sonorità folk. L'ultimo album pubblicato è stato Ancient and Modern del 2011.

Il leader, Jon Langford si dedicò oltre alla carriera solista a progetti paralleli come i Waco Brothers (gruppo country punk), i Pine Valley Cosmonauts ed a dischi in collaborazione con Richard Buckner, Kevin Coyne, The Sadies, Kat Ex (Katherina Bornefeld) dei The Ex.

(it.wikipedia)

*

The Mekons are a British rock band, though they have been based in Chicago now for many years. Formed in the late 1970s, they are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands. Through the years, the band's musical style has evolved, incorporating aspects of country music, folk music, alternative rock and even occasional experiments with dub. These days, The Mekons are often described as a post-punk, cowpunk and/or alt country band.

The band was formed in 1977 by a group of University of Leeds art students : Jon Langford, Kevin Lycett, Mark White, Andy Corrigan and Tom Greenhalgh - the Gang of Four and Delta 5 formed from the same group of students. They took the band's name from the Mekon, an evil, super-intelligent Venusian featured in the British 1950s-1960s comic Dan Dare (printed in the Eagle). The band's first single was "Never Been in a Riot", a satirical take on the Clash's White Riot. For several years the loose-knit band played noisy, bare-bones post-punk, releasing singles on a variety of labels. The Mekons' first album, The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen, was recorded using the Gang of Four's instruments, and due to an error by the Virgin Records art department, featured pictures of the Gang of Four on the back cover. After 1982's The Mekons Story, a compilation of old recordings, the band ceased activity for a while, with Langford forming The Three Johns.

By the mid-1980s (revitalised by the 1984 miners' strike) the Mekons had returned as an active group. The band was now augmented by vocalist Sally Timms, violinist Susie Honeyman, ex-Damned member Lu Edmonds, accordionist/vocalist Rico Bell (a.k.a. Eric Bellis), and former The Rumour drummer Steve Goulding, They began to experiment with musical styles derived from traditional English folk (tentatively explored on the English Dancing Master EP prior to the hiatus), and American country music. Fear and Whiskey (1985), The Edge of the World (1986) and Honky Tonkin (1987) exemplified the band's new sound, which built on the innovations of Gram Parsons and blended punk ethos and left wing politics with the minimalist country of Hank Williams. Subsequent albums, such as The Mekons Rock'n'Roll, continued to experiment with diverse instrumentation (notably the fiddle and slide guitar).

The Mekons Rock and Roll was the band's first major label release. Issued by A&M Records in 1989, Rock and Roll was not a commercial success, but it was met with critical acclaim.

Just as the Mekons began to grow in critical stature, their relationship with A&M Records became tense, and the Mekons were soon dropped by the label, unable to fulfill their commercial expectations. However, they continued to record at a prolific rate, releasing such notable albums as 1991's The Curse of the Mekons, 2000's Journey to the End of the Night, and 2002's OOOH!. Natural moved the band to a more folk-flavoured sound. In April 2009 the Mekons returned to the studio to complete a new collection of songs, released in 2011 as Ancient and Modern on Bloodshot Records.

Jon Langford has been busy as an artist and as founder of several solo and band projects, including the Waco Brothers (a punk-meets-Johnny Cash-like ensemble) and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts (exploring the music of Bob Wills, Johnny Cash and others). Besides his solo albums he has released CDs with Richard Buckner, Kevin Coyne, The Sadies, Kat Ex (Katherina Bornefeld) of The Ex (band).

The band has toured and recorded with a mostly unaltered lineup (Langford, Greenhalgh, Timms, Goulding, Bell, Edmonds, Honeyman, and bassist Sarah Corina) throughout the 1990s and early 21st century, and has a highly devoted following.

In a September 2010 interview, Jon Langford revealed that new Mekons album called Ancient & Modern has been recorded and that the band will tour the United States in 2011.

In a February 2011 interview, Langford discussed the music documentary about the band, Revenge of the Mekons, directed by Joe Angio and tentatively scheduled for release in early 2013.

(en.wikipedia)