Punk Rock | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2004 | |||
Studio | Western Sound Labs | |||
Label | Quarterstick | |||
Producer | The Mekons, Kenneth Sluiter | |||
The Mekons chronology | ||||
|
Punk Rock is an album by the band the Mekons, released in 2004. [1] [2] The Mekons supported the album with a North American tour. [3] Punk Rock was a success on college radio. [4]
The songs, written by the Mekons between 1977 and 1981, were recorded during the band's 25th anniversary tour. [5] [6] The band chose to record them live or live in the studio. [7] Founding bandmember Jon Langford did not like the band's debut album, which he thought was incapably sung; he also lamented that it was released by Richard Branson's Virgin Records. [8] Langford also thought that the songs still had meaning and were fun to play. [9] The Mekons used a Canadian Mekons tribute band, Eaglebauer, on "Fight the Cuts". [10] "The Building" was sung a cappella. [11]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Robert Christgau | A− [13] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [14] |
Rolling Stone | [15] |
The Tampa Tribune | B+ [16] |
The Morning Call wrote that "the Mekons raise the right questions with the proper amount of skepticism, idealism and rude humor, without seeming to follow a formula." [17] The Chicago Tribune determined that, "if the higher fidelity, better playing and technically anachronistic presence of later-addition Sally Timms' beautiful vocals belie (in the best possible way) the passage of time, the band does a great job capturing the rage and chaos of that important time." [18]
Chuck Eddy, in The Village Voice, concluded that "Punk Rock salvages plenty of odes to failure/disgrace/infidelity/life-during-wartime plus drunken rants about bowing to republic and employer from rare imports long sold to used-vinyl stores, updating them with a pint-glass accordion-and-fiddle two-step jigginess Jon Langford's merry men and women didn't perfect till 1983's English Dancing Master EP." [19] Rolling Stone noted that "the memorable, politically minded tunes are a testament to the band's bighearted collective spirit." [15] Robert Christgau determined that "one comparison is the eponymous hardcore album Rancid dropped in 2000 when ska felt played out, but this is sharper and more varied." [13]
AllMusic wrote that "there is a certain ramshackle grace in them that offers the ghostly hint of 1977's chaotic joy, but being played by people who no longer have the comfort of naivete as a cushion against the outside world." [12]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Teeth" | |
2. | "Corporal Chalkie" | |
3. | "I'm So Happy" | |
4. | "What" | |
5. | "32 Weeks" | |
6. | "Work All Week" | |
7. | "The Building" | |
8. | "Rosanne" | |
9. | "Trevira Trousers" | |
10. | "This Sporting Life" | |
11. | "Never Been in a Riot" | |
12. | "Lonely and Wet" | |
13. | "Fight the Cuts" | |
14. | "Chopper Squad" | |
15. | "Dan Dare" |
Punk Rock | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2004 | |||
Studio | Western Sound Labs | |||
Label | Quarterstick | |||
Producer | The Mekons, Kenneth Sluiter | |||
The Mekons chronology | ||||
|
Punk Rock is an album by the band the Mekons, released in 2004. [1] [2] The Mekons supported the album with a North American tour. [3] Punk Rock was a success on college radio. [4]
The songs, written by the Mekons between 1977 and 1981, were recorded during the band's 25th anniversary tour. [5] [6] The band chose to record them live or live in the studio. [7] Founding bandmember Jon Langford did not like the band's debut album, which he thought was incapably sung; he also lamented that it was released by Richard Branson's Virgin Records. [8] Langford also thought that the songs still had meaning and were fun to play. [9] The Mekons used a Canadian Mekons tribute band, Eaglebauer, on "Fight the Cuts". [10] "The Building" was sung a cappella. [11]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Robert Christgau | A− [13] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [14] |
Rolling Stone | [15] |
The Tampa Tribune | B+ [16] |
The Morning Call wrote that "the Mekons raise the right questions with the proper amount of skepticism, idealism and rude humor, without seeming to follow a formula." [17] The Chicago Tribune determined that, "if the higher fidelity, better playing and technically anachronistic presence of later-addition Sally Timms' beautiful vocals belie (in the best possible way) the passage of time, the band does a great job capturing the rage and chaos of that important time." [18]
Chuck Eddy, in The Village Voice, concluded that "Punk Rock salvages plenty of odes to failure/disgrace/infidelity/life-during-wartime plus drunken rants about bowing to republic and employer from rare imports long sold to used-vinyl stores, updating them with a pint-glass accordion-and-fiddle two-step jigginess Jon Langford's merry men and women didn't perfect till 1983's English Dancing Master EP." [19] Rolling Stone noted that "the memorable, politically minded tunes are a testament to the band's bighearted collective spirit." [15] Robert Christgau determined that "one comparison is the eponymous hardcore album Rancid dropped in 2000 when ska felt played out, but this is sharper and more varied." [13]
AllMusic wrote that "there is a certain ramshackle grace in them that offers the ghostly hint of 1977's chaotic joy, but being played by people who no longer have the comfort of naivete as a cushion against the outside world." [12]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Teeth" | |
2. | "Corporal Chalkie" | |
3. | "I'm So Happy" | |
4. | "What" | |
5. | "32 Weeks" | |
6. | "Work All Week" | |
7. | "The Building" | |
8. | "Rosanne" | |
9. | "Trevira Trousers" | |
10. | "This Sporting Life" | |
11. | "Never Been in a Riot" | |
12. | "Lonely and Wet" | |
13. | "Fight the Cuts" | |
14. | "Chopper Squad" | |
15. | "Dan Dare" |