Details
Track Listing
1. Curse, The
2. Blue Arse
3. Wild & Blue
4. Authority
5. Secrets
6. Nocturne
7. Sorcerer
8. Brutal
9. Funeral
10. Lyric
11. Waltz
12. 100% Song
13. Makes No Difference
14. Sheffield Park
15. Having a Party
16. One Horse Town
| Details | | Producer: | Ian Caple, The Mekons | | Distributor: | E1 Distribution (USA) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
1 LP and 1 EP on 1 CD: THE CURSE OF THE MEKONS (1991)/F.U.N. '90 (1990).
The Mekons includes: Jon Dee Fanglord (vocals, guitar, banjo, synthesizer); Tom Green (vocals, guitar, harmonica, synthesizer); Ken Litemare (vocals, guitar); Endora Timms, Rico Hell (vocals); Brendan Crowkey (guitar, background vocals); Samantha Herebemonsters (violin); Lu Cipher (flute, bagpipes, bass); Gavin Sharp (saxophone); Neil Yates (trumpet); John Hart (trombone); John Grill (melodian, bass); Steve Goulding (drums).
Recorded at The Stone Room, London, England. Includes liner notes by Robert Christgau.
Musically and ideologically, the Mekons have always been anarchists of sorts. They believe in freedom from intellectual and political categories, and from musical categories as well (over the years they have experimented with punk, country, folk, and art noise). Though largely overlooked by the music industry and the record-buying public, the Mekons were still venturing on in 1991 (12 years after their debut), a year when younger bands (particularly Nirvana) were enjoying massive popularity. Though the title THE CURSE OF THE MEKONS may allude to their commercial misfortunes, the music inside is made by a band nowhere near losing energy, idealism, or focus.
In addition to the Mekons' mix-it-up aesthetic--the music is a swirling brew of big guitars, fiddle, synthesizer, harmonica, and even bagpipes--THE CURSE is one of the group's most overtly political albums. "Sorcerer" is an allegory condemning consumer culture; "Brutal" is a history lesson about the international drug trade. Elsewhere, socialist principles are pitted against imperialism and corporate domination. Though their sound is more sophisticated here, the Mekons still pack a punch, and the record sounds like what it is--a fierce, angry cry. Marked by such intensity, this is one of the Mekons' finest and best-articulated statements. Note: This reissue also includes the F.U.N. '90 EP.
Industry Reviews
...CURSE is an original marriage of post-punk-inflected honky-tonk and droning synthesizer textures....FUN 90 is a collection of folk-and-roots-identified covers reimagined as off-the-one dance-club ready-mades...
No Depression (07/01/2001)
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