‘Whiskey’ an overlooked treasure

Spencer Patterson

Friday, June 18, 2004 | 8:25 a.m.

Late, great rock critic Lester Bangs once wrote that the Mekons were "better than the Beatles."

The British post-punk outfit has been around some 25 years, and continues to record and tour.

So why have so few people actually heard of the Mekons, to say nothing of being able to name a single song by the group?

There are plenty of answers to that question: a genre-defying sound, a constantly shifting lineup, an overtly socialist agenda and amazingly inconsistent album distribution.

Despite all that, music fans in the know have long embraced the Leeds collective for its willingness to experiment without regard to popular trends.

The Mekons' third proper studio album, 1985's "Fear and Whiskey," stands as perhaps the best example of that free-thinking attitude.

Hailed today as one of the first alternative country artifacts, the record marked a departure from the band's punk-rock roots toward a decidedly more cowpunk approach.

Fiddler Susie Honeyman makes her first Mekons appearance on the album, and her contributions rise to the surface frequently throughout the 36-minute disc. Its 11 tracks range from fun and poppy ("Chivalry" and "Lost Dance") to quirky and challenging ("Trouble Down South" and the spoken "Psycho Cupid").

Led by vocalists Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh -- the only original members still in the band -- the Mekons wrote lyrics that resonate with an anarchic perspective the Sex Pistols only could have dreamt of.

"The crowd moves forward, but the living have risen / Revenge is a red flag soaked in a brother's blood / Despots beware! This is the start of our freedom," Langford roars at the close of "Trouble Down South," one of many standout cuts.

As undeniably important as "Fear and Whiskey" has always been, its influence remained somewhat limited until recently, the result of it having gone out of print on several different occasions over the years.

Fortunately, Quarterstick Records finally made it available again in 2002, as part of an ongoing Mekons reissue series that continued with this year's rerelease of "Honky Tonkin'," another classic from 1987.

Along with 1986's "Edge of the World," the trio of country-flavored albums provide an excellent introduction to one of the best bands ever ignored by the world at large.

Artist: Mekons.

Title: "Fear and Whiskey."

Year of release: 1985 (Reissued 2002, Quarterstick Records).

Tracklisting: "Chivalry," "Trouble Down South," "Hard to Be Human Again," "Darkness and Doubt," "Psycho Cupid," "Flitcraft," "Country," "Abernant 1984/85," "Last Dance," "Lost Highway."