Fear and Whiskey

Utterly bizarre. Weird rambling speech over punky violins, mad subject matters. Sometimes you hear an album and you have no idea if it’s genius or madness. One star? Five? Who can tell?

Best Song: None. Worst Song: Chivalry. What in the 8-bit cowboy is that background instrumental? Overall: I will be surprised if there is a worse vocal performance on this list. This sounds like your milquetoast colleague who always wants to go to karaoke, so you assume they must be able to sing, but when they get on stage they just start loudly talking with the music. And it's interspersed with amateur theatre? Even better. This album is one of the 1001 ways to tell that you've actually already died and you were sent to the bad place.

So you're telling me that a British band did in 1984 what Viagra Boys did on In Spite of Ourselves in 2021, for a whole album, with copious violin, and I didn't listen to any of it until today? Put this directly in my veins, stat. I don't care if it stops holding up eventually: This is exactly for me and there's an entire discography and several relistens ahead. Fine food for my imagination.

I was brought up on a diet of fear and whiskey. My old man used to beat me black and blue, then douse me in whiskey and set me alight. It was an exciting time to grow up and sculptured me into the well-rounded human I am today.

I'd like to think that there are hundreds of subgenres of music, and with this list being only 1001 long, the best 1-10 albums of any subgenre are represented here. If this album isn't right at the bottom of this particular subgenre then god help the rest of the albums. Jesus Christ.

Occasionally threatens to be really good. But sadly never materialises. Most sounds like a band failing to be interesting but succeeding at being annoying

just not in to diddly dee punk. as soon as the fiddle turns up i lose interest. i used to play football for the bolton irish centre in the north of england celtic supporters tournament. after the football they would hire a function room and there would always be a fucking diddly dee band on and all these english people would sing along to these irish republican songs because they support a scottish football team that has something to do with ireland. all a bit weird and has probably put me off it even more. i'd like to thank buckfast for getting me through that nonsense. the americans seem to bum this kind of irish punk too. fucking history nonces.

A British group that decides to defy expectations by laying fiddles, harmonicas, and country guitar hooks onto a punk-rock foundation should be praised and applauded when it is done as spectacularly as this. Although the war-time themes of the songs would expect you to have a brooding, dark tone, the songs are actually really fun and catchy. I never thought I would hear an album like this, it's an underrated gem. Favorite Song: Country Least Favorite Song: Psycho Cupid

never heard of this act but really enjoyed this album. normally “british pub band” is a tough sell but it works

Oh ya, this is right up my alley. Like the Clash but with a fiddle. Very reminiscent of The Pogues, and a slight attitude of Johnny Cash. There are a couple more strange avant garde type songs that were misses for me. But overall, this is a very fun, well written and ahead-of-its-time punk folk album. 4/5 Favorites: Chivalry, Hard to Be Human Again, Last Dance, Lost Highway Least Favorites: Trouble Down South, Psycho Cupid,

I honestly didn’t think I’d like this one, but I did! I guess the whole country punk thing is up my alley.

Not at all what I was expecting. The Punk element is much less obvious, and the Country element more prominent, with fiddle and everything. There’s also a fair amount of dissonant noise at points. The song I found myself drawn to most was Last Dance, but I’m biased towards songs about looking for small pieces of meaning in random moments of life, especially those involving love and/or empty dancefloors. A teacher I had at uni once mentioned that I wrote almost exclusively about the ‘poignancy of the random moment,’ and I get the sense of that in Last Dance. I also love the detail of singing ‘You were waltzing’ in a song that isn’t a Waltz, especially when the band have proven that they could do a Waltz previously on Flitcraft. I’m enjoying it more on a second listen. The dissonant noise parts are less prominent than I had realised. I think they’re unusual enough that they take focus from the rest of the album which is, if anything pretty standard Country Rock fare, played with a Punky attitude rather than instrumentation. Now that I know what to expect, I like this a lot

Actually liked this. Will need to relisten to it sometime.

false

Really good album loved it lots.

really enjoyed this. great production on the album too

Yeah liked that. Four stars possibly just because it's new to me.

Sons diferentes, interessantes e muito bons

Medio punk así gracioso. Sin más.

Pretty good

Not bad at all actually

interesting, proboably should listen more before id give it a final rating

BOMB

A tale of 2 completely different sides to an album. The first side is decent (first song is great and Hard to be Human is very good), but the second side is quality alt-country cowpunk, and definitely worth the listen.

Someone’s drunk uncle recorded an album of himself doing karaoke at the pub.

One listen sufficient. There is a reason this didn't get released widely in 1985. Not shocking, but not good.

Je tenais à m'excuser pour la faute de syntaxe que j'ai commise en rédigeant ma critique de l'album de Gainsbourg. Ça n'arrivera plus.

I had never heard of Mekons and am glad that I have. I have a feeling they may start making the rotation in the up coming new year. An interesting mix with country influenced music in behind the music at the forefront. Happy new year!

Loved it. one of those albums you can't explain why :)

I really enjoyed this, it’s weird and I haven’t heard much like it, which makes me like it more! Adding punk influence to any other music genre makes an album sound like heaven to me. Fav songs: Psycho Cupid, Darkness and Doubt, Last Dance Least fav songs: I liked them all

I knew nothing of this album...or band...went in cold. And... I think I reaaaaaally like this. Added the whole album to my playlist. A weird mix of British Punk and folk/country meets a early David Lynch film? I don't know...but I liked it. saying 4.5 but giving it 5 stars.

im literally obsessed with this album, the clamor! the fiddle!! 10/10 i liked every song on the album 😔

This caught me by surprise. The singer is rarely on pitch and the drum machine is overbearing. Somehow it is post c&w and post punk at the same time. Yet there is a ton of charm here and I love it for its sheer creativity and effort.

It’s Cowpunk—what else could you want?

Really good album. Country elements are strong and not half-assed. Musicianship is top notch, and the lyrics were good but hard to follow. This album was a joy.

This album was sick. Take some folk/bluegrass/country and chop it up with a bunch of hypnotic drum lines, add some punk, then finish it off with some wild songwriting. Every song was so different. You go from Trouble Down South, which is a punky bluesy freaky number to Psycho Cupid, which is a totally futuristic desert cyberpunk trance. This is the exact weirdness that I like doing this list for

This had me reaching for so much other music as so many 80's & 70's elements (XTC, Police, even They might be giants, early Pulp). So thanks for the discovery, that's why I'm here!

Muss ich nochmal an einem ruhigen Abend mit Whiskey hören aber gehört definitiv schon zu meinen persönlichen Neuentdeckungen.

I normally don't like this type of music, but this one is just sloppy enough to appeal to me. It's closer to Meat Puppets and The Waterboys than it is from The Pogues or whatever, which is a good thing.

There were a couple brief moments where a song would start to trend towards being not completely awful. Or maybe it was when I just couldn't be bothered to pay attention

Punk but wasn't feeling it

Not for me.

I like the early stuff from the mekons more. I found this to be a bit of a chore even with the short runtime. Don't dig the folksier arrangements.

Haha, that was fun, but like in a really bad way

There is a long-running comedy panel game on BBC radio where one of the tasks is to sing the lyrics of one song to the tune of another. That sprung to mind listening to the first track. The second sounded like an out-take from Jeff Wayne's "War of the Worlds". The start of the third gave me Supertramp vibes then went punk. Then the album just got weirder. Not for me 1/5.

It comes across like a novelty act, but without being funny. I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

The info for this album said it was punk & country. Just because you suck at making music doesn’t make you a punk band. Really thought the bad fake American accents were a really great touch.

I think they just gave some microphones and instruments to a bunch of random people in the underground at 2 am and hit record. The "singers" might have some ideas about what notes are supposed to sound like, but I'm not entirely sure. At first I thought they opened with the worst song on the album, but somehow it just kept getting worse.

Woof. The vocals in this first song are atrocious. If the rest of the album follows suit, this is going to be a tough one to finish. "Hard to be Human Again" was a welcome change in the sound once it started playing. Not my favorite type of music, but seems like it's much more in this band's wheelhouse. The rest of the album had a couple of other spots that piqued my ears a bit, but it was overall a relief to finish the album and move on to something better - I think there's a very good reason that some of the songs had less than 7K plays on YouTube Music.

just because an album is weird, doesn't mean it should be on this list. all the elements are decent enough but they do not work together at all. the singer is especially terrible, no singing, just talking and raising or lowering his volume occasionally

You have to be pretty into British New Wave to find this band, and it shows. Probably a good deep cut for someone into that scene, but not for the average listener.

Kinda sounded like Fred Armisen doing an 80s uk punk band skit

Sounds like Morrissey, terrible.

Man oh man. So back in the 90s, I used to listen to a band, Too Much Joy, with a song called "If I Were A Mekon." Back then, I didn't know what a Mekon was, and I knew I wasn't quite as cool as Too Much Joy. But now I have heard The Mekons. And I'm not a Mekon. So I can't say I'm cooler than TMJ. But I too wish I was a Mekon and so maybe I'm now on par.

Country and punky and gritty. Love it!

British Pop-Punk-Country Twang fusion thing. Cool! I like it. Sometimes reminds me a little of The Clash or maybe The Pouges (but better). Some songs have a sea chanty or maybe an Irish Trad sound. I didn't care for the two spoken word songs but the rest was great! Cool find. Never heard of them before and hope to hear more.

I kinda love the country / punk rock fusion and also how obviously British they are. Totally dig the fiddle too. Though a bit strange and a little messy and chaotic at times, it all just works somehow. I’m a fan!

Mekons go country, which just means another great Mekons album, 80s classic. score: 10/10.

LOVED this, great punk album

80s through back British punk

Oha, was ist das denn? Interessant, originell, kein 0815-Sound, also toll!

A pioneering cowpunk album that may well be the birth of alt country and I love the synth drums.

cool

9/10 absolutely wonderful I truly adored this

Suprised with how good it is

I had never heard this album and I enjoyed every minute of it. I read that it's the "first" alt-country album but I hear as much folk music influence as I do country, however who really cares the music is challenging and tough and just sounds like it's created by musicians that care about their art. I loved it. 4 stars

Overall a great listen. 3.8/5

thoroughly enjoyed / appreciated / ??? Kinda freaky but layered and interesting to delve into- all the fiddle haters can fuck off

This sounds very familiar to me, I just have had this on a cassette tape but not knowing who it was.

Never heard of this. I might be crazy for giving this 4 stars, but it kind of grew on me as it went on. At first I was annoyed by the intentionally off-key discordant stuff. I'd call it the Cure meets Dexi's Midnight Runners.

Reminds me of the Clash

Ended up better than I expected. Will I listen to again: 65%

Took a few songs to get into the swing of it but by the end I was very much on-board with what they were doing. Helps that the penultimate song 'Last Dance' is an absolute rager, 10/10. Feels like something that could really grow on me over time, post-punky country, a rarity for sure (check out The Gun Club).

I liked this! I like anything that mixes genres together and comes out with something as smooth as this. Wikipedia calls this alternative rock and alternative country, but I heard traces of Britpop, new wave, and post-punk in there, too. Would listen again!

Overall a decent album. Its lyrics had deep meaning, talking about life during war. Its music was a mix of rock and country, and making it sound very nice. Overall I would reccomend giving this album a try.

Do you like upbeat songs? If so, this album is for you! I can't understand what the lead singer is saying at all tough. But that's okay because the background music makes up for it! I recommend that you listen to this album.

At first this was kind of a meh album, but about halfway through it clicked and I realized this album is amazing. 9/10

I kind of dug this album. Each song was fun and different and I really liked that. I didn't like Psycho Cupid and was worried where the album might go from there but it stayed on a good course. I really liked Last Dance and Lost Highway. They all were different but had a flare that let me know they were all the same band.

8/10. Great stuff. Was leaning 7 but ended strong for an 8.

Ooh I loved this! Was listening to Plowing Into the Field of Love by Iceage recently, which is one of my all time fav albums, and was looking into this Cowpunk genre, which I think is such a cool sound, and this scratched that same itch!

Brilliant

I thought this would be cooler based on the description. If I had gone in blind I probably would've liked it.

Wonderfully weird and fun, with "Chivalry" and "Darkness and Doubt" and "Psycho Cupid" among the best cut. Full marks for originality and executing with a sense of humor and context.

I had never heard of this band, but I enjoyed this all the way through. If you’re into talking heads, velvet underground, devo and the like, I bet you’ll like this too.

Great take on country and folk.

I like this more than I dislike this. It’s kinda like the Pogues but a little toned down. Which makes it less good, they should have leaned into it more. I dunno. Some of the songs were very catchy and I’d listen to them again

It seems quite unremarkable but I did really enjoy listening to it

Den här plattan behöver de inte skämmas för.

drellifínt. fleirameira. 4,5.

Some lovely songs here

Неплохо

It was a fun listen. New wave, post-punk and folk mixed together, in a way that it somehow worked together.

fear and whiskey mekons 1985 1. chivalry: 7/10 2. trouble down south: 5/10 3. hard to be a human again: 7.5/10 4. darkness and doubt: 7/10 5. psycho cupid- danceband on the edge of time: 4.5/10 6. flitcraft: 7.5/10 7. country: 7/10 8. Abernant 1984/5: 8/10 9. last dance: 8/10 10. lost highway: 7/10 overall rating: 6.9/10

Though it was gonna be full country

This was a strange one, a twisted mess of genres that was so different, it really stood out to me. I don't think all of the rock/ country mash up worked, but it was funky and cool anyway. My favorite was definitely Darkness and Doubt.

The Mekons are a name I have heard and read about but never actually listened to. The first few bars of the opening track had me worried I was doing to listen to synth folk so I was pleasantly surprised when it properly kicked in. One going on the listen again pile

4/5

Nother group I never heard of.

It grew on me.

great stuff!