Journey To The End Of The Night (CD)

Founded in the late 1970s by Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh, the Mekons started out as a punk band, inspired by the first wave of British punk rock. Before long, however, they were incorporating synthesizers, reggae, and just plain weirdness into their style. As much of a collective as a band (in keeping with their socialist political tendencies), the early Mekons were a revolving door for a constantly changing cast of characters. In the mid-'80s, they significantly incorporated country and folk influences and released some of their finest work. By the '90s, a membership anchored by the likes of Steve Goulding and Sally Timms kept the Mekons producing at a prolific rate, never abandoning their politically incisive lyricism.

• Category:  Music  »  Rock & Pop  »  Alternative
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: March 7, 2000
• Label: Quarterstick
• UPC: 036172006021
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106658045
• Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #139175 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #39845 in Rock & Pop (See Top 100 Rock & Pop Bestsellers)
• #3525 in Alternative (See Top 100 Alternative Bestsellers)

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Rolling Stone (4/13/00, pp.133-4) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Predictably unpredictable....[they] settle into a single stylistic groove of melancholy electric ballads and languid reggae....a band of survivors who are as comfortable with shattering continuity as they are with embodying it."
Spin (6/00, p.162) - 8 out of 10 - "...Strong, if only subtly rocking....It sounds richly upholstered, gathering back compatriots like fiddler Susie Honeyman, with umpteen vocalists chiming in and around each other. Imagine: They've turned the Flying Dutchman into a cruise ship."
Q (8/00, p.102) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...The emphasis is on punk-tinged reggae that runs through tunefully gloomy songs....not so much a career summary as another port of call on a grand, rickety voyage..."
Alternative Press (5/00, pp.95-6) - 4 out of 5 - "...a quiet, unsettled yet strangely comforting mood that suggests a late night spent in contemporary flashback....an uplifting collection of songs that suggests that one need not be alone in the darkness..."
CMJ (3/6/00, p.26) - "...With the erudite, economical lyrics, and their knack for linking up country gin joints and urban reggae dancehalls with their gruff waltzes...[they] once again take the poor boy/girl up to the ivory tower and make it swing."
Dirty Linen (6-7/00, p.75) - "...Ragged experimentalism colors almost every song...there's a folky sense of storytelling and a pop sense....[Their] post-apocalyptic pessimism is combined with literary skill, and bleak social realism is punctuated with humor."

The Mekons: Jon Langford (vocals, guitar, melodica, sound effects); Tom Greenhalgh (vocals, auto-harp, piano); Rico Bell (vocals, harmonica, accordion); Sally Timms (vocals); Mitch Marlow (guitar); Susie Honeyman (fiddle); Sarah Corrina (bass, background vocals); Steve Goulding (drums).

Additional personnel: John Rice (electric sitar); Edith Frost, Kelly Hogan, Neko Case (background vocals).

Recorded in Chicago, Illinois and London, England.

The first album of the 21st century by this band of punks-turned-honky-tonkers-turned-avant popsters gives rise to thoughts of the circus, clowns, and all things waggish. One imagines a rag-tag assortment of troupe members sitting out back behind the big top, beating on whatever instruments they might happen to come across. With JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT this band of merry pranksters has added one of its most accessible and rewarding albums to an eclectic and wide-ranging catalog that reaches back to the late '70s.

The lyrics and song structures are remarkable for the way they flout pop convention while remaining entirely engaging and accessible. The album-opening "Myth" putters along like a dilapidated sailboat, as spare electric guitar, authoritative bass, melodica, and the band's four vocalists combine for a rhythmically off-kilter balancing act that somehow shines. The exquisite "Tina" grafts accordion over a classic-sounding dub background, with bubbling synths and well-crafted vocal harmonies. Other bits of pop mastery abound: the strange and anthemic "Cast No Shadows," the bouncy rocker "Neglect," and the groove-cutting "Out in the Night," among others, all of which make for a winning grab-bag of pop gems.

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