Fear and Whiskey

Wasn't expecting much, didn't get much. This album totally washed over me, no idea why it's in this list...

You could hear a variety of background sounds. I think it was probably in the year it was released, so their voice was kind of distant and as if reciting a poem. The intro was also long and not my cup of tea.

This was much better than anticipated. 80’s new wavy greatness!

I liked trouble down south, the rest was just average

reminded me of 19 year old britpop sensation jim e. brown

Fear and Whiskey..... the only way to make sense of this album is to think of it as post-apocalyptic folk-punk. You might think the "post-apocalyptic" part is just a cute sobriquet added on to generate interest, but it's vital. This is the music we'll be playing after all the musicians are dead, and we're huddled around a oil-drum fire trying to stave off the thought that civilization as we know it will never return. It's the music we never got to hear in The Road Warrior or A Boy and His Dog. I don't love it but it is super interesting. Also - why is it that every violin on a rock record is out of tune? I think the only people who got it right are The Frames..... anyways. For me it's a cool- THREE STARS

Максимально не моє. Аранжування, звук, вокал, сам матеріал - все повз. На середині здався та вимкнув.

Черговий британський альбом з 80х по квоті цього списку. Друга пісня прям сподобалась, але все інше - зовсім ні. Послухав і забув.

Love Annie Lennox, nice to hear her in context with where things started.

Listened Before? N It was okay. Not sure I needed to hear this but it didn't completely suck. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Hard to Be Human Again

Ian Dury has some competition for the title of the worst vocalist on this list.

No good to me

Meh

More of a last four songs you should hear before you die. First half is pretty unremarkably boring. Those last four songs I get it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they’re a masterpiece, but the last four make sense to the vision/hype of this album. Throwing out the first five songs entirely knocks this to a 3, I feel a 3 on the country songs.

seems to be a fairly important step in the development of alt-country. unfortunately the singing is uncomfortably north English. sorry brits. though i like the stomping and apocalyptic sound. the cover art fucking rocks too. it's ultimately a lot more interesting and compelling to think about than to listen to, but it was worth a shot. the Hank cover at the end is fun. deserves to be one of the 1001? probably not but i'm happy it was presented to me. would be real swell if Hank Williams was on this list, but he died over a decade before the album became dominant

one of the albums of all time

i liked the spoken word track with the female vocalist because it seems to presage a lot of other artists who make songs of that flavor (bongwater, black box recorder, dry cleaning, etc.) which i very much enjoy, so that was cool to hear. however the fiddle really did not seem to mesh well with the rest of the music and i found the majority of the album pretty bland. fav track: psycho cupid

this is so weird bc some of the songs are cacophonous in a way that feels experimental and cool and some of them are just cacophonous. so i'm averaging out my experience with a 3.5. Fav tracks: Psycho Cupid - Danceband On the Edge of Time

This is...something! Post punk meets country - I can appreciate the experimentation, but I'm just not convinced. Vocals are too punk and instrumental is severely country. They aren't really in dialogue with each other. The contrast is fun, but not something I'd play through again.

Bush league.

Mekont give high rating for this.

Needs a stronger accent to sound authentic.

Like the spirit of this record but the songs are lacking majorly

Feels a like a jam session at English pub with annoying entitled talentless jackass. Another album on my list to never listen to in your life time. Not worth of a star

That’s a no from me dogg.

Not quite bad enough to be a 1/5 (more due to some of the albums that i have given a 1 to, but not far off)

Obviously something was in the water this weekend, as this was another album that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around being on this project. It was terrible. And “Psycho Cupid” was the worst thing I’ve heard in a long time.

More post-punk... but make it slightly country? My first impression is that Tom Greenhalgh cannot sing. My second impression is that Jon Langford can't sing either. Weirdly they sound a bit better in combination and I have no idea why that should be the case. I nearly did a little cheer when my adopted hometown got a shout out, but then I zoned out for a little bit. I was very much snapped back to attention when I heard Jacqui Callis say "my sex drew back into itself tight and dry" (which resulted in me googling the lyrics to double check I heard her correctly). I think parts of this are abysmal, especially the singing, but for some reason it started to grow on me over the length of the full album. I think it might be because they sounded like they were enjoying themselves so much. I would guess that they're great fun to see live. Particularly if you go into the gig absolutely hammered. I cannot objectively justify this marking at all, so I'm not really going to try: 3/5

This was a really interesting album. It feels ahead of it's time in terms of production. It feels like some indie project from the late 2000's or early 2010's. It's cool all together.

Had a lot of fun with that one. It definitely feels like the country brother of Dexys or Pogues. There were some catchy melodies despite the weirdness of it Rating: 4.3

Quite a lovely album with cool experimentation on it. Some forgettable parts here and there, but overall an intersting experience.

ziemlich albern und naiv. Brauch ich nicht!

Not for me. 1/5

Nope

Étrangement bon. Pas tout à fait un 4 par contre.

Loin d'être aussi pire que ce que les commentaires laissaient présager, j'étais quand même bien tanné avant la fin. 2.5 étoiles parce que c'est en parfait équilibre sur le mince fil du c'est bon/c'est pas bon.

Light 3

Did you know country punk is called cowpunk? That was the only thing I got from this. Favorite Tracks: Chivalry, Last Dance, Lost Highway

This is one of those albums with enough great elements to make you wish it were a good album, but unfortunately, it isn't. There are so many glimmers of greatness sprinkled throughout it that it makes me mad that the album as a whole is so grating and repetitive

Country misturado com Punk e ornamentado por New Wave… Que é, na realidade, um álbum conceito sobre uma cidade fictícia assolada por uma sangrenta guerra… Que disco bizarro! Certamente há algo a ser apreciado na pura esquisitice apresentada, e eu até curti esse estranho artefato, da mesma forma que alguém curte assistir as videocassetadas do Faustão. Quando os planetas se alinham, a mescla funciona até que bem. O exemplo óbvio seria a canção Hard To Be Human Again (apesar que minha faixa favorita no álbum é Last Dance), que mistura guitarras elétricas com instrumentos típicos de Country, e até vende um som doidinho e legal. Mas a realidade rude e grosseira é que eles simplesmente não são uma boa banda. Sei, é triste dizer isso, mas é a verdade. Um conceito pitoresco e uma miscigenação musical só pode te levar tão longe até que a pura e inalterada falta de talento bruto transpareça. Os arranjos não são tão interessantes quanto a premissa do disco promete. Os vocais são pobres e básicos, até que típicos do estilo new wave britânico, mas sem os instrumentais fortes é difícil justificar essa crise coral. Mas não é tudo negativo. Eu curto demais aquele violino caipira, clichê mas infinitamente amável. Uma gaitinha bem temperada também não se nega a ninguém. E como eu disse, os temas são intrigantes, e a banda te prende até que bem nesse universozinho maluco que eles teceram. Eu facilmente compraria este disco para o expor como uma curiosidade, um verdadeiro conversation starter musical! E há mérito nisso, especialmente nesta lista que está tão recheada de discos enjoados, cansativos, genéricos, que passam batido sem deixar impressão nenhuma, que entram por um ouvido e saem pelo outro. É legal ouvir algo que é o contrário de tudo isso, que talvez não seja tão sonoramente fantástico, mas que te leva pra um lugar diferente. 3.5/5

Ничего примечательного и, главное, почти полное отсутствие мелодичности и гармонии. Не моё в общем. 4,5 из 10.

Annoying avant garde experiment band with a lead singer doing a bad Robert Smith impression. One song had a kazoo as the primary instrument. It is saved from a 1 because the opening song wasn't bad, but it went downhill quickly from there. A low-end 2/5

A puke from an ass

This was a weird album. I dont know what I just listened to. Having absolutely never heard of The Mekons I was like "OK maybe this will be a cool surprise" and I was so horribly wrong. Then I looked them up and saw they just pump out albums that, if I had to guess, are more "art pieces" than well executed music and it started to make sense. That works sometimes, but not in this case. Musically there's nothing to write home about. The fiddle didn't seem well integrated with the songs, which was such a disappointment because I like hearing a fiddle or violin when done well. Random flute and harmonica notes everywhere. Weird talking. This is a concept album about war or something? The guitarist is halfway decent but is usually just drowned out by nonsense. Everyone else seems to have just learned their instruments a year or two ago and ascribe to the "fake it till you make it" way of life. Standouts were probably "Darkness And Doubt" and "Flitcraft" if I had to pick. I dont know what I'm doing here. I dont think they know what they're doing here. I dont give a lot of 1s out, but this certainly deserves it methinks. Mekons. Whatever.

Ok

Didn’t do much for me. No real standouts. Kinda whiney.

Dumb fun

eh

this sucks ass but in a way that i fuck with

Not for me. 2

It was alrighttt I think the lead singers voice isn’t agreeable to me like the tone of his voice makes the the songs like spoof like fake songs so idk

From a time when these sorts of British bands didn’t take themselves too seriously and just had fun with their music, we have the seriously mixed bag that is Fear and Whiskey. On the one hand, there are a few sections that come off quite mysteriously, with odd speaking parts and a general sense that they’re odd for the sake of it, an example being Psycho Cupid. On the other hand, there are a few songs that are very fun and very catchy, being that of Trouble Down South and my favourite, Last Dance. On a third, withered hand, there is Darkness and Doubt, which is laughably terrible. The sort of song that prompts an actual audible “make it stop” once you’re past the three minute mark. So it loses points for not being that cohesive, but keeps a few for being jolly good fun, mostly.

Another mid british band.

Dziwne. Trochę jakby pijani beatlesi coś tam gadali do mikrofonu. 2/5

Was quite excited by this a mix of punk/country with lots of violin. Enjoyed the opening track a lot - unfortunately it lost its way a bit with a bit too much spoken word and not enough fiddley dee.

Fear & Whisky This feels a bit like Sandinista-era Clash, with an added dose of Don’t Stand Me Down era Dexy’s and a bit of Adam Ant, all filtered through a punk-country sensibility, and I like it. I love the fiddle and percussion, there are some excellent guitar parts and runs and some nice harmonies and backing vocals, but I really like the bass playing, with its great tone and melodic rhythms. Chivalry is a great upbeat opener, Trouble Down South has a lovely offbeat sensibility, Hard To Be Human Again displays their scratchy post punk roots. Darkness and Doubt brings the fiddle back with some slightly atonal melodies, and some oddness carries on with Psycho Cupid, with it’s kitchen sink drama style narration and wailing backing. Country is great, it reminds me a bit of Big Audio Dynamite or Aztec Camera. Last Dance is great, I love the fiddle, chorus and guitars in particular. And the cover of Lost Highway is pleasingly charming, a bit punky, a bit ramshackle, capturing the wandering spirit of the song. It's interesting reading about The Mekons that they, Delta 5 and Gang of Four all came from the same group of students I’m very much into their loping, drunken take on country, echoing with punk, reggae and post-punk, and the sense that I wasn’t sure whether they are serious or taking the piss. Maybe that they fall somewhere between the two is why I like it so much. Solid 4. 🥃🥃🥃🥃 Playlist submission: Chivalry

Comparisons with the Pogues are inevitable. 'Darkness and Doubt' feels like the lilting sort of song that MacGowan would eviscerate with his vocal. Nevertheless the Mekons give it a naive charm. But it proves to be an enjoyable union of country/Celtic styles with punk, and jolly good for toe-tapping, such as the trad-cum-rock feel of 'Flitcraft'. The likes of 'Chivalry' and 'Hard to be Human' (which leans to their punk side), are good but but somewhat pedestrian neither having a punk energy nor an interesting mash-up with country. Overall it feels a bit muddled, some experimental stuff in with a traditional/punk mix. And yet there's an undeniable naive charm to rattle through the listenable tracks. It comes out at a good three.

Dreadful. Like a second-rate Clash tribute band playing something for the locals at a hoe-down.

3.5 I loved some songs and the others got me bored

It kinda reminds of some of my favourite aussie pub rock bands but like, not as good. It’s weird but not the good weird. I got about 5 songs in before I’d decided I’d had enough tbh

I liked the music

I had no idea who the band was so when I looked them up I saw this album described as “alternative country”. I think it’s more Scottish or Irish punk. Either way it’s not an album I can recommend.

Wtf was this?

Not quite my tempo

This was truly interesting and unique. Not necessarily great but it definitely gets points for standing out from the crowd. I think it deserves a 3, won’t revisit much but for sure worth hearing and not bad

Flimsy bar band nonsense. Presumably better after a few drinks?

sounds like a 80's garage band

Hm, interesting! I quite enjoyed it, an interesting change from many of these albums.

I dig this alot

Fun album I liked it

Oh very, very English. A bit rocky, so folky but very very English

Can’t overcome my underlying anglophobia on this one. Can’t accept anything near country rock from an English guy. Rolling Stones kinda got there a couple of times but that’s it.

There's a lot of cool ideas here, but the singer absolutely drags it down. Stick someone else on the top of this and you'd actually have something cool. It's not like it needs to be pitch perfect, but stick someone like Shane McGowan or Joe Strummer in and it'd actually be good.

Ehhhh 2.5/5

I can always get behind some folksy violin, but this record had just a little too much disjointed nonsense for my liking. Best Track: Last Dance

The Mekons are a hit and miss band for me. They have some great stuff in their catalog but not all of it hits. I get that this was an influential album in its melding folk/country and punk but it’s just misses more than it hits for me. Some alright tracks but nothing worthy of another listen for me. 5/10

Another album I've never listened to before. Why? I dont know. This really appealed to me. Quirky, off beat New Wave. Really good.

This is horrible

After that first track my confidence that I will enjoy this album is waning. I give them credit for taking chances, but it does not amount to enough to be notable. Not even a good album for 1985 much else 1980s or all time. It just shows that the editors on this list are trying to rewrite music history rather than reflect upon what the history actually was as they should. Better replacement's that are not on this list that the market has already determined were more worthy: The Cult's LOVE, Whitney Houston's WHITNEY HOUSTON, Sting's THE DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLES, Phil Collin's NO JACKET REQUIRED, and Simple Mind's ONCE UPON A TIME, Stormtroopers of Death SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE. Those are just off the top my head. Imagine what the editors could do with a bit of effort. No wonder young people don't realize how great music was in the 1980s. This list doesn't do a great job of representing the decade.

This album came up straight after The Modern Lovers and it was a good follow up. At first it didn’t grab me but the mix of punk, country, folk and a dash of Billy Bragg priest song really grew on me. Glad to have discovered this album.

This shit sucked

3.5/5. Soort country/post-punk

Bad country-rock with a strong English accent. Please never make me listen to this again

I guess it's got historical value maybe? Is it a good album though? Not really.

I’d never heard of the Mekons before. I’m not sure how to classify them, but, whatever genre(s) they are, it works. This album is delightfully discordant. The chaotic nature of the song instrumentation really worked for me for some odd reason. I’m a huge fan of British accents in singing, so I liked both the male and female lead singers’ voices. I am intrigued and definitely want to discover more from the Mekons now.

170925 13:42 3.5

Pretty unique punk album with some varied instruments, a lot of strings and piano. It’s all a bit ramshackle and the vocals are quite grating though. Points for effort rather than enjoyment.

Interesting not my jam except track 3 which was 11 bar blues

I've really enjoyed this album. It is so good! And it has great songs on it. There's not much to say, it's a funny and very much enjoyable album, which is also great. Not all albums need to be very deep, varied or intense to be great. Sometimes albums like this one are such a great listening. And that's fine too.

Wow this album is pretty bad. I think I wrote most of these songs like 10 years ago when I was still drinking and rambling on and on about randomness. "My dad burnt the toast this morning" like c'mon what are we even doing here? And that was just the start to the rambling words (can they be called lyrics if they're just spoken?) and seemingly rambling instruments.

Short review time! This Mekons album is okay. It's fine. It's a decent 80s post-punk album with some country elements. The country elements aren't super present, but they do enough to make this not feel exactly like every other 80s post-punk. It instead feels mostly like every other 80s post-punk album, with an emphasis on 80s. This just sounds like an 80s album. Is this a compliment? An insult? It's not really either, but I'd say it's closer to the latter. The vocals are just kind of there. The sound is kind of dated. I will say that, because some earlier parts of the album were kind of weak, I did consider giving this a high 2, but it kind of picked up a bit near the end with songs like "Last Dance" that were good, so I changed it. Still, this album isn't exactly a must-listen. Not bad, but I didn't care for it much. Low 3/5.

Whole moly that is bad.

Was going to give this album 2 stars, but "Lost Highway" pulled out an extra star from me.

-it was ok - it did some interesting stuff - i really did not like the voice of the main guy - the drums were boring and uninspired and obviously synth -felt bland

Really wanted to like this but just couldn't. It has clearly influenced artists I enjoy but did not mesh multiple styles in an enjoyable way. 2/5

I read some of the reviews before I played this, and was expecting to hate it. But it was surprisingly... ok. Nothing earth shattering, and doubt I would listen again, but some neat musicianship on some of the tracks. Not so sure on the lyrics themselves, but I enjoyed the overall sound.

Misses out on 5 from me as the first few songs didn't hit, also heavily 80's style drum production isn't my favourite but then this album shifts! Love the fiddle and as a whole the album finds itself in a bizarre realm. Not as out there as I'd expected but will get another spin

It's all just a little too British, innit?

I didn't get it

Um, is this exercise making anyone else think maybe your taste in music is bad? If these are the best albums and I can't stand them....is that my fault or theirs? I think it's theirs.

Won't be targeting that album again.

Knowing that the Mekons are Jonathan Franzen's favorite band didn't put me in the right mood exactly, but just 30 seconds into Fear and Whiskey I realized they too were a band for me. In a sense, they're the Grateful Dead of punk rock: a collective more than a band that incorporates elements of country into the schematics of their original approach and emphasizes the live show. But they're also something else entirely: I'm assuming they do not have legions of fans but thousands in the know, and while the Dead are essentially a live band w/ album footnotes, the Mekons are real studio folk. Full of warmth, humor, modesty, they yet know they're onto something. 'I wanted to say fall in love w/ me / I wanted to say fall in love / It'll be alright.'

That was quite fun! I didn't like Psycho Cupid very much though.

Die Mekons, eine britische Band mit Punk-Wurzeln, nahmen ihr Album Fear and Whiskey 1985 in Großbritannien auf. Es markierte eine deutliche stilistische Wende, da hier erstmals Country-Elemente wie Fiddle und Steel-Gitarre mit ihrem rohen Punk-Ansatz verbunden wurden. Das Ergebnis wirkt kantig und ungeschliffen, zugleich aber atmosphärisch dicht. Bekannte Stücke sind „Chivalry“, „Hard to Be Human Again“ und das Hank-Williams-Cover „Lost Highway“. Das Album gilt als frühes Beispiel für Alternative Country und zeigt, wie politische und persönliche Themen in einer rauen, direkten Klangsprache verarbeitet werden. Insgesamt ein Werk von besonderem Stellenwert, weil es Genregrenzen aufbricht und einen eigenständigen Ausdruck schafft.

I did not need to hear this before I die.

Just couldn't connect. Decent musical moments but they didn't gel with each other or with the lyrics in a way that I would've liked.

Interesting usage of a horn in punk music. Reminds me of I can't get no satisfaction.

No standouts, inoffensive

Overall: 1/10 Quite possibly the most annoying album I've listened to in my entire life. The vocals are mediocre and they did a horrendous job of combining the attitude of punk with the melancholy of country. It's sad too cause I enjoy The Pogues and similar artists to them. Fav Song: Darkness and Doubt

Not my thing. It’s like the worst stuff from the Clash and Dexy’s Midnight Runners

Op zich niet slecht, maar ook niets speciaals. Niets wist me echt te boeien.

It sounded like a more boozy, messy folk record than country to my ear (lost highway perhaps most country sound at the very end) but agree it had a certain charm. Hard to be human again along with last dance were my highlights. I'll probably land on a 3

I enjoy when stuff like this comes up. A sort of post-folk sound I wouldn’t have thought existed. Most of it was pretty fresh and while there was a few bits that sounded like Dexy’s off cuts that dragged it down - I’ll go 3.5 and round up.

I read the description and can't say I was getting much punk or country. This sounded more like The Fall or Half Man Half Biscuit. It was good though. Hard to be Human Again was a good listen. It all had the sound of something that needed a couple of listens to appreciate

If I wanted honkey tonk, I'd listen to Charley Crockett. This seems like post-punk, and I'm not a fan. The instrumentals are understated, and the brooding vocals are unappealing.

The off-kilter rhythms, post-punk instrumentation and intense Englishness of this record make it sound like a little like the output of The Fall, but with a much less interesting vocalist. It's track after track of warped country- and folk-based music that has some bizarre internal logic but which still remains inscrutable even after multiple listens.

It's ok. Nothing special, to be honest. Punk/post punk, blended with some country elements. There are a standout song or two, but mostly a forgettable experience. 3/5

Pretty weird album. Like some sort of British rock infused with country. Started strong but fizzled out a bit. Favorite: Chivalry, Trouble Down South

I could've used some whiskey listening to this. Not bad, but the country/punk blend wasn't doing it for me. Neither influence was very strong and the result was just not enjoyable. 2/5

A gruesome mish-mash styles that seemed limited. Mostly tuneless.

Toca hoy nuevamente una banda que desconozco por completo. Me llama la atención la reseña y los géneros con los que dialoga, así que encaramos la escucha desde ése lugar. Suena a post-punk más tranquilo y enriquecido con otros géneros, con la belleza de la tonada inglesa para cantar punk. El álbum tiene sus momentos, más no me volvió loco. Hasta mañana.

No me gustó. Una mezcla de folk y rock, no es mi estilo, tampoco me agradaron los vocales.

Por su valentía de intentar

This shit sucks.

Muss es nochmal komplett anhören. Nicht schlecht, aber leider eher nichts, was ich unbedingt wieder hören will :):

Album cover is giving Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas vibes. The music is giving all the guys dropped acid a la Hunter S. Thompson before recording vibes. I was reading through the global reviews and found this statement that resonated with my thoughts exactly: "Most sounds like a band failing to be interesting but succeeding at being annoying." So in that respect, I can't give this anything higher than a 2.

Opener Chivalry is fine, but has a particular sound that I don't tend to love. The machine-gun electronic drums through the outro were an interesting touch. I think exactly one listen was enough for this one. I didn't hate it, but I also was glad for it to be done. So for that 2 / 5.

Psycho Cupid was an odd changeup to the whole vibe of the album. Maybe I was missing something in the lyrics prior to that song. Otherwise this didn't do much at all for me when normally I love the use of a violin in albums like this.

Sounds like a band that would play in the Rams Head parking lot for St. Patrick's day. Not spectacular at all to report here.

I need a pint after listening to this. At first I wasn't really feeling it but it definitely grew on me. Not the biggest fan of the spoken word ones though. Meh 3.

This might be the most outrageously British thing I've ever listened to. I hated it.

A true introduction for me. I'd never heard of these guys, and it seems the group went through some ship of theseus ass changes. Anyway this was supposedly influenced by country - but don't let that fool you only lost highway remotely sounds like it, they have fiddle and twang and shit, but it sounds more like fairport convention esque english folk takes than anything like american country. Anyway good songs, cool performances, and new to me!

What is wrong with the brass section? This flute or whatever is always off-tune. Is it just something to be different ? 🥱

1.5

Adam Sweeting from The Guardian writes in his 2004 review of the Mekon’s Best Of album release: ‘Fear & Whiskey first appeared in 1985, its ragged folk-country sound drawing inspiration from America but informed by the horrors of the miners' strike. It earned the band the tag "the godfathers of alt-country"’ Godfathers of alt-country? Nuh-uh. Alternative country pre 1985 is more in the vein of the Jayhawks, Gram Parsons and Townes Van Zandt (from the late 1980’s onwards- Uncle Tupelo, Wilco and Lucinda Williams). Just because you add a fiddle, slide guitar and harmonica to your punk band doesn’t mean you transform into an alt country band! 🙄 There is a lack of cohesion on this album I can’t even begin to elaborate on. It made me irrationally angry. Overall: 1/10

moments when this could be more than okay but never quite gets there, no stand outs and definitely not into the weird spoken word “songs”

That was just an odd experience. Alternative folk & country would probably be the best way to describe this, but a lot of it was really flat and inconsistent. I'm not sure who this is for, but I'd sure like to meet them to see what else they're into.

Did to appeal to me. 70’s and 80’s punk is one of my least favorite music genres, so it surprised.

Is this a therapeutic album for the artists themselves? Doesn’t do much for me. Vocals are not produced. Tracks are not even synced well. But somehow I can imagine if someone covered this album and produced it well, it might not be too bad.

Albums like this make me love this list. Idk if I would’ve ever come across it otherwise I really liked certain song and the album overall was solid, but Chivalry, Trouble Down South and Last Dance really made it feel alive. It felt like not only do they actually like making music but they’re actually good at it. It’s surprising to me how frequently one of those feels like it’s missing.

not really sure why this was on a top 1,001 list. like, it was fine... but i didn't really see anything about this album that pushed the music genre/industry forward.

Not a huge fan of this one. Bad singing, weird backing tracks. Just weird.

Was pretty excited going in based on the little wiki article but this was pretty lame. Didn’t like his voice.

Not sure where the country influences are that would allow this to fall into the genre, but I definitely hear the punk. Overall it’s just not for me, and definitely not something I’ll come back to.

Nope. Not a fan. "Last Dance" was ok, but that was about it.

An ok album, but not really one suited for this list

Pleasant.

zum hören eher mehr punk als country - zum glück. roh und doch melodiös.

Gut gemeinter Crossover, aber ich kann fast nicht zuhören. Entweder oder ist mir lieber.

DIE!!!!!!!

Realky quite shite

pretty meh

1.5 Really bad. Didn’t enjoy this at all. A half hour of tuneless screeching.

This wasn’t bad. Had a little Echo & the Bunnymen feel to a few songs.

Very niche struggling students make a band and play at sketchy underground clubs with 15 people vibe. Few songs were catchy (last two) but non were memorable.

meh, not remarkable in any way

This was really neat. Completely unexpected and a very unique sound with the combination of fiddle and harmonica with the punk elements.

Not a fan

I enjoyed listening through this album though it may noy be ny everyday cup of tea. Strange combo of punk and country that works somehow. I liked it!

well that certainly was an album

on paper, this album sounds like it should be a five-star album for me in particular, what with all of the weird punk, new wave, concept album, and genre-bending shenanigans at play. in practice, it's a half-hearted mess that can't decide what it wants to be. instead of pulling together those disparate elements into something greater than the sum of its parts, this is--at its best and in certain moments of beautiful synchronicity--the sum of its parts. wow. still, points for trying i guess. favorites: trouble down south (quick sidebar, why does this song sound like a b-side from the musical come from away?), hard to be human again, last dance

I’ve known about the Mekons for a very long time. They were all over compilations I used to collect from labels like Rough Trade Records, Soul Jazz Records, and many more. But despite always being curious about them, I never actually sat down and listened to any of their albums until now. Whether you want to call this alt-country, cowpunk, or something else entirely, these guys are definitely pioneers of that sound. This is country music filtered and reimagined through a DIY, chaotic punk lens. You get punk style rhythm guitars blended with twangy country leads, including slide guitar. There’s also a prominent use of fiddles and banjos, which gives the album that rugged, Americana barroom feel. Overall, this was a fun album, and I’m definitely going to start working my way through the rest of their catalog over time.

Kind of weird, kind of good.

Man I really want to like this album, it checks a lot of boxes for things I like. But there is this incessant drum machine whose sound I loathe. I would LOVE to hear these songs performed or re-recorded with an actual drummer. Without that I find it hard to like any of this material, most of which is admittedly interesting.

Glad to get and album I hadn't heard before, I liked the sound of what I'd read before I pressed play but the reality failed to live up to expectations. There's a difference between being (arguably) the first to do something and the best to do it. Yes. No. Yes. Maybe. No. No. Yes. No. Yes. Maybe. 2.5 (rounded up to 3 for innovation).

It starts strong: 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘺 delivers a sharp post-punk energy with just enough twang to feel fresh. But from there, the album gradually loses focus. The blend of punk and country is interesting in theory, but the raw, uneven production makes it feel more like a sketch than a statement. There’s charm in its looseness, and the attitude is sincere, but it doesn’t fully hold together. Great opening, patchy journey.

This album had one idea.

Probably rowdy fun at the end of the night at a pub, but a bit underwhelming as a studio release

Weird for the sake of weird. Wouldn’t listen again but I get that they werre trying to be strange. I think they are better technical musicians then they sound like here.

It is not so strange an idea to me that country and punk can, or even should, be smashed recklessly together. Look at The Gun Club, Meat Puppets, the cowpunk scene at large, or even some of the alt country songwriters of the '90s like Will Oldham who definitely had some involvement in the punk world. Although I will say, even though Mekons have all the components of these two worlds, the stuff happening here on Fear And Whiskey is like some secret new thing. Like for a couple of tracks, before I was sold on this, I was convinced that this was just lunacy. We aren't quite starting with punk, it's more Post-Punk, almost New Wave. And while most of the examples I provided incorporate country more as "Americana", where the music is made a little dustier, maybe a little lower fidelity than a regular punk album, and the sound and palette reflect that, that isn't how Mekons really go about things. The sound here is pretty much pure Post-Punk (with some New Wave sheen), but the *songwriting* is *very* informed by country. Like this is country software on Post-Punk hardware or something. And, very importantly, the biggest aesthetic effect the country influence has here is the fiddle, which is a major part of these arrangements, and it sits super weirdly, because it is played in the super expressive, almost sour way that the fiddle manifests in Country Music. Throw some borderline spoken word on top of it all and add the occasional weird-o vocal effect here and there for good measure, and you're left with a real headscratcher. Like this isn't all *that* weird in the grand scheme of things, but all of the components here are so deeply mutated that I actually sort of struggle to fathom how they stumbled into this space: It almost has a surreal quality at times. More importantly, I have decided that I like it. Chivalry is a good picture of what’s happening here, it’s idiosyncratic, unique and kind of fun. There’s a little ‘80s cheese, but it kinda works here, just adds another axiom for me to gawk at. Although I was sold by the end of Trouble Down South, it’s conversely kind of a dark take on the sound. It has a sourness, and it’s kind of theatrical in a weird way too. In fact, I’ve heard some people mention that this is a concept album, and I think that tracks. Darkness and Doubt is cool too, it almost sounds like Modest Mouse for a couple of passages, and it honestly sort of makes sense. Country is great too, and I really like the cover of Lost Highway at the end. Although honestly, once you tap into the aesthetic, the songs are all pretty great. It really is fascinating music. I can imagine this isn’t for everyone, but give it a chance, it’s pretty cool!

Done

First album I've gotten featuring someone I've seen in concert; probably the only album I'll get featuring someone I've sold LPs to. This is one I'll definitely come back to.

did not like

I don't know what to say. The mix/production just sounds so weak. Everything sounds so flimsy and the song writing isn't much better. I also have no idea why this was even included, it doesn't seem that popular or influential. Violent Femmes and Meat Puppets already did MUCH better cow punk years earlier and are already on this list. I don't want to make another "They are only on here because they are British" rant, but that is the only reason I can see why this was included. Mid 2.

Too new wavey punk for me, not a fan.

Hey did you want to know what country and punk sounded like together?? No neither did I but let me warn you it’s shit.

The opener is very very good. The rest isn't that level, but still really enjoyable. Can't say I understand how something like this qualifies as something you have to hear before you die, but its still decent

Mekons are cool. Alt country Mekons: cool. Where Were You is their best song (it's not on here). Especially when Boredoms interpolate it. Too cool for DSOTM dweebs.

Fear and Whiskey is an album that i enjoyed quite a fair bit. This one very clearly has a lot of country influences (Heck, the final song on this album is a cover of an actual country song) And i say, they mixed quite well with all the more rock like elements. The country elements very rarely got overbearing because they didn't ever feel as if they were taking over the whole album. Even then, i liked the songs that leaned more towards being typical rock music because they could be some rather enjoyable tracks. This album also felt like it went at a good length with it not ending too early or too late. This is an album that while not amazing, does it's job pretty well. Best Song: Hard to Be Human Again Worst Song: Flitcraft

If Pulp and The Streets had a baby but the mother had smoked and heavily drunk throughout, potentially taking meth resulting in a tone deaf whaling monster with zero rhythm being born, the parents gave it some instruments and left it locked away to create this.

Not my glass of whiskey

Jesus Chris.

This album felt like a mismatch, the instruments and singing etc just felt disjointed. Not my bottle of bleach

It's a step down from the previous album I reviewed (Black Sabbath). There's one song worth listening to, and that's "Hard to Be Human Again". The punk riffs outdo every other track on "Fear and Whiskey". I'd be praising this album all day if the whole album were like "Hard to Be Human Again". Instead, it's just 80s fare that should've been forgotten. 2 stars for "Fear and Whiskey".

Ein kultiges, sperriges, überraschend berührendes Album, das zeigt: Punk ist keine Stilfrage, sondern eine Haltung – auch mit Banjo.

Aight

Diría que desde que empecé con el rollo de ratear álbumes, fui creando unas reglas no escritas sobre como hacerlo. Una de las principales es definitivamente la obligación de escuchar el disco en su totalidad, por muy malo que fuera. Hoy he roto la regla. Es lo peor que he escuchado en mi vida. Me gusta un montón la página esta y el libro físico donde están los albumes en la que se basa; pero este se coló del 1001 peores álbumes. No hay absolutamente nada que se pueda rascar. Es el peor cantante que he escuchado en mi vida, y me refiero en general, incluyendo a mis amigos que solo escuchan mierda y que desafinan tanto que acaban armonizando con la canción sin querer. No hay ni sentido del ritmo ni del tono. Las bases son típico britpop rock (que me parece top 5 peores géneros con peores bandas) a las cuales se les inserta instrumentos aleatorios y sonidos raros con 0 coherencia. Las grabaciones son terribles, llenas de fallos y con 0 sentido del ritmo. La producción es horripilante y las baterías suenan a plástico. Me parece penoso que esto llegue a una lista así. Me voy enfadado a cama. 0/10->0/5

They are okay. They remind me of PIL. I should play it for Mike. Reminds me of Irene. She put one of their songs on a mix tape. That was over over 30 years ago. I’m old.

actually pretty good

It’s like they realized they sucked as a punk band and decided to also suck as a country band. Like if Dexy’s Midnight Runners decided to be worse somehow.

4/10 - not very memorable

Just not good

This is just so 80s I can’t

Very 80s, kinda Smiths vibe.

Not for me, personally. I can hear it’s solid, well written and executed. I’m not a fan of fiddles or weird alt-country by former punks, but here we are.

A strange combo but it kind of works!

It's just bad.

This was not to my taste. Although I'm not averse to a bit of tuneless shambolic music if done right, this version of it doesn't work for me.

Not my thing, just kinda aggravating to me to be honest. Too loose and not interesting enough to hold me at all.

tentatively saying 3.5. strange and weird and all over the place and the singer can’t sing for shit but i had lots of fun and i like weird experimental shit jshssk

Surprisingly good, interesting mix if a lot of i fluences coming together very well. Extremely enjoyable.

Decent

Not exactly up my alley.

Totally forgot about this one... has nice moments, but a little too unhinged, unsure why it's on the list

point7.

Another one from the 1001 albums only Robert Dimery has heard

Creí que era otra cosa más punk. Me han sonado a Pop estándar de Pub inglés para cantar con la pinta en alto.

My head hurt listening to the start of this album but it cleared towards the middle. Just a very boring, repetitive album. Fell asleep twice during it.

I really did not vibe with this

A lot of music is pleasant without being interesting. The first 8 tracks of this are interesting, without being pleasant. They aren't unpleasant, mind; just not engaging. The last two tracks are great. Which is odd, because they are very much of a piece with the rest of the album. It struck me as so odd that I re-listened. Same thing happened. Two great tracks; so two stars.

What is this?

Almost a four. If I had heard this 20 or 25 years ago I might have rated it four or five. This has a couple great tracks on it, but something about it overall couldn’t tip the scales from almost to definitely.

Not all that long ago, I went through a heavy Mekong phase, and not surprisingly this was one of the albums. Hey so maybe not a perfect record but that’s not what the Mekons are going for anyway.

I’d never heard this. I liked it and it might need a relisten to truly appreciate it.

It was a fine album. UK rock/folk with a bit of a punk edge. Totally inoffensive but not super compelling.

Like a mellower version of the Pogues. Maybe this was influential as a lovechild of punk and trad Irish music, although with everything that has come after, it's hard to really get excited about. The vocals, in particular, weren't doin' it for me.

This wasn't awful but I didn't really get anything out of it.

Cool cover. This does come close to being something special. Big swing that doesn't quite hit the mark. I'm not even sure this one would be necessary listening. I can picture them playing in a bar to 4 people and 2 of the 4 are the staff. Awkward silence broken by a phlegm filled cough.

What the hell was that?

Like it!

You know it's bad when an album was only 35 minutes and it still felt like a massive waste of time.

Just miserably depressing. Dear mekons, Please stop whispering in my ear. Ferris.

This album was ok, the rock and roll elements were pretty good but nothing special really. However I really liked trouble down south as it was quite atmospheric and sounded like it belonged in a theatre production.

Started off fun and quirky and somehow went downhill. Maybe it was my mood. Maybe it was the music.

Really struggling to get on board with this one. The vocals sound like they are taken from a different song, half of the time. And the music doesn't really have a lot of melody or anything to get into to. I don't get it

This was my first time listening to this. At first I wasn't sure I would get over the very 80s sounding production, particularly on the vocals. But after a couple of plays through I quite dig it. I've seen this record described as a cross over between punk and country music, but to my ears it sounds more celtic and folky. Lots of fiddles and not a great deal of Americana on display. More Bluegrass than country, perhaps. The second half is definitely the best. Some great tracks on there. Over all though, it hasn't made me want to immediately grab a copy for my collection, or seek out more Meekons albums. I'd give it a 3.5 if I could. I'm going with a 3. Though it could definitely grow on me with further listens.

I grew up listening to American country music, and this album was an insult to actual country music. It sounded like a group of drunk lads in a noisy pub. 1.5 rounded up

Music isn't bad but the vocals are so bad it doesn't matter. 2 stars or D-.

hmm

Seeing them reviewed in the back of punk zines, I've always wanted to like the Mekons, and yet they've never managed to capture my heart in the few times I've heard them. By the sound of it, Fear and Whiskey is probably the album where they had their best shot: crisp, clear, and immediate, with tracks like "Trouble Down South" and "Hard to Be Human Again" pulling me in. But songs like "Chivalry" and "Darkness and Doubt" turn on a British Folk sound with an unpleasant vocal delivery and equally cause me to reject them. On balance, there's too much of that and not enough of the qualities that I projected into the Mekons before really stopping to listen. Maybe that's the point. They're not interested in manufacturing fans and I'm not interested in producing a false joy in listening to them. I guess that gap between the real and my imaginary desire to rep them initially meant I couldn't fully hear them as they meant for themselves to be heard. And now, as the record ends, we might be able to talk Marx at a pub as we turn that contradiction over in our minds.

Flogging Molly is a great, great band. Totally unique, there is really only room for one Flogging Molly in musical history (proof of concept, I once saw FM, Gogol Bodello, and Mariachi El Bronx - an ethnic punk show that was top 5 concerts I've ever been to). I respect that the Mekons made FM and that ilk possible, but this is not good.

Solide Mischung aus Folk und Rock, seiner Zeit voraus.

Average but definitely ok to listen to, nothing that stood out as an absolute necessity!

This mix of punk/new wave and country was... interesting. Not surprisingly I was more drawn to the songs that leaned more into the punk than the country, but in the end it was a mish mash that just didn't work for me.

Dobry

Mwha

Did absolutely nothing for me

3.75

Such a strange, abstract alternative album; very deconstructivist. Not a fan. There are some redeeming tracks like Lost Highway, but overall a messy snoozefest.

Not something I would have normally listened to, but I enjoyed it. Favorites on the album are Abernant 1984/5 and Lost Highway.

Not for me. 2.5

Didn't leave an impression

Brilliant.

Earnest, quirky, and rooted in traditional feel.

It’s doesn’t really do it for me.

The more times I listened to this the more I fell in love. It’s like if Crass made Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and it’s no wonder this is widely cited as an influence on the 90’s alt-country scene. The back half really kicks things up with the country influences and it’s hypnotic in making me want to come back for more. This is one I’ll be coming back to fairly often.

Kinda droney and dull, but it's decent enough. Has some folk/blues/Scottish(?) elements to it and keeps my ear. Some nice upbeat tunes and decent vocals. it's okay.

This album seemed to get better the further in I got. I'm determined to listen to each album all the way through at least once and by the end of this, I still just couldn't get into it. No idea what earlier albums sound like but this is apparently a departure from their earlier sound. It is what it is but not my kind of jam

I’m bucking the consensus. Had a rad time listening to this. Its fusion of punk and country does sound off putting but it gels for me. It’s coming from such an earnest place. Found a few new favorite songs. 4/5

3.4

Weird and interesting

Liked the punk influence but overall not great.

I tried to give it a chance but I wasn't able to find a way to enjoy it. Some of the instrumentals are funky and interesting, but the the singing annoyed the hell out of me. Wouldn't helped if the lyrics weren't boring and pretentious.

Decent album, probably won’t listen again.

This was fine. Not sure I would listen to it again, but it was fine. Stand out songs: Trouble Down South Flitcraft Lost Highway

The drum machines feel out of place. I don’t really get it. Hard to listen to

Truly awful. Every song was worse than the last. I think these may be my least favorite vocals ive ever heard

I imagine they are equally confused about why they are on this list

Interesting, but none of the songs got me going. Maybe I need a few more listens to digest this properly. I'll leave 3 stars.

It's something!

Punk lite, country, folk. Classify it however you want musically, it sucks in any genre. And as a bonus the vocals are awful.

A pleasant surprise. Reminiscent of Billy Bragg, The Pogues, and The Clash. Nothing virtuoso here, but that's part of the pleasure. They have a voice, a point of view, and an attitude, and they express it very clearly. I am down.

Not for me.

If you like this album that's great! But can you unbiased say that this album deservers the "Must listen before you die" tag. I had never heard of them, This album doesn't even seem to be a favourite among people who listen to the band according to spotify so why would a must hear album not be in peoples playlists?(don't say they use only CDs or vinyl's because that more or less proves the point further) So what makes this album that ground-breaking or culturally impactful that it NEEDS to be heard. I have given albums 5s that I my self wouldn't say is a must hear. This list really misses the point of what is a must hear album.

C'etait sympa mais un peu niche et je pense pas que j'ai envie de réécouter

Did not blow me away

3/10

I'm rating this higher than I should because I like weird English bands with vocalists that can't sing.

Kind of like the pogues but shittier

This was not good. "Last Dance" was maybe the most listenable because the instruments were in tune and everything was mostly in time but the rest was a real struggle to get through. The unimaginative chord progressions of alt rock/punk without any of the aggression, speed, or individual ingenuity that makes it good - all mixed through the lens of a terrible singing and a wobbly fiddle. I did not like this.

I don't know what they were thinking with this vocalist. The music isn't terribly interesting, maybe they thought a talking point would be how bad he is? eh

Awful, I wish I could give zero stars. It sounded like bad karaoke and believe me I know what bad karaoke sounds like

For every classic album this list throws you a dud like this

Holy shit, this album is the definition of getting better with each song. That is a MONSTER second half!!

141/1089 - Sounds like Joy Division with violins and electronic drums (so a slight improvement from Stephen "can't keep the beat" Morris). Non-list recommendation: First Circle - Pat Metheny Group (1984) Great guitarist and keyboard player playing a very unique type of jazz fusion.

Unremarkable

Realmente no es mi estilo.

Weird, whiny, wacky.

4/5

No tracks stood out

un 3 direi che ci sta

Never heard of this band before so there’s a bit of intrigue there, but I’m struggling to get to grips with them. Given its rave contemporary reviews I suspect there may be *something* a bit unique about this album but at the moment all I’m getting is ‘Dexy’s Midnight Runners without the tunes’. Probably needs further listens, but I’m probably not going to make that investment. 2.5

This kinda sucks. It's not the worst thing ever but it's unnecessarily artsy.

Yeah, i did not like this album at all.

Surprisingly good.

I enjoyed this one 3.5 good bg music.

I thought id enjoy this based on the description. But i did not. Seemed weirdly generic and dull

Though some vocal jank, the album feels like bold statement melodies telling interesting stories

No, no, no. Someone pointed out that it "threatened to be good, but that never materialises". This is spot on. I gave up towards the end, I couldn't take any more of the slow "Cotton Eye Joe". A weird start to my weekend.

This is pretty shitty.

It's not unlistenable, but it certainly sounds like a relic from a time and place. Lyrics touching on topics of War and Labor during 1980s UK is standard fare for the time. I favored the back half of the album where the songs are shorter and much more catchy. I appreciate being exposed to this album, but I certainly never need to hear it again.

Not enjoyable.

Not sure what genre this falls into, but it’s terrible.

I really enjoyed this one. I had not heard of Mekons and expected a different sound given its release year. Sounds like a preview of lots of indie rock a decade plus later.

- Ending of Trouble Down South makes me think of that one part in 9/11 Footwerk - I thought Psycho Cupid (Danceband on the Edge of Time) would build up to something but it didn't lol - I don't know if it's just me not having a solid baseline for music/country at this time but I feel like I didn't enjoy listening to this, and I'm not hankering for a second listen.

I gotta call this book's genre labels out for giving me the completely wrong impression of this album going in. I mean, you label anything with "post-punk," I'm on edge. Even after learning a bit more how to deal with it thanks to LOVELESS, it's still not exactly something I'm looking forward to. "Great," I'm thinking: "here goes 30 minutes to noise and nonsense pretending to be art." That's a worry that only lasts about as long as it takes me to hit "play" on the album. This is a country album. An alt. country album, sure; it's not George Jones, or even Kacey Musgraves, but the influence is unignorable. Like, damn, you could have labelled this thing as post-punk **and** country and given me a better idea of what this thing is actually like. Well, in lieu of the book giving the people any indication about that, allow me to do so. The brief description I'd give of it is that it's like if a punk band that frequently played pubs decided they wanted to also be a country act. So, it's not as far to the side as to be cowpunk, but it's still a pretty obvious mixture of the two. And a potent one at that — this is some good-ass shit. It can kind of be like The Clash by way of Chumbawamba's folk albums... If they were a bit more "roight, roight" about it, y'get what I mean? And seriously, don't ignore the "frequently played pubs" thing as part of my description. That's a big part of the appeal, 'coz I can totally imagine a room fulla people shouting along to this. S'why I don't mind how the guy isn't even really singing on this thing. I mean, when the hooligans on their fourth pint you're playing for aren't gonna, why should you? I wanna go on, but honestly, I don't even really have much I wanna say about this thing. It's some real solid-ass punk-style country, with some damn good fiddle to boot. I'm not going buck wild for it or anything, but hey, it's a million times better than what I assumed it would be. I mean, hey, if I were post-punk, I wouldn't complain about any boost in its standings, I tell yah...

Certainly an interesting way to do country. 3.5 bumped down to 3.

I’m at a 3. A tale of two sides, really – I found myself utterly baffled by the first half of the album. I thought it had no real consistency, I thought the lyricism was strange, I thought the instrumentation was fine enough (if a bit overmixed, overblown & sort of cacophonic), and as a whole, I just generally didn’t grasp onto a “modus operandi” for the album. Those first 5 tracks, even after a re-listen where they sort of clicked more, are a weird, artsy, fully competent 2.5 that I think just didn’t quite grab me in the sort of avant-garde way it was going for. The back half of the album is a solid, solid 3.5, that actually leans into the “post-punk meets country” vibe that I thought the full album would be going for. There’s some positive comparisons to the Pogues in here, some stronger lyricism/melodies, and just a general nicer blend of instrumentation (and strangely enough, better audio fidelity) that makes for a nice enough set of tracks. They’re not *great,* but they’re pretty good, and I enjoyed them, especially on Flitcraft, Abernant 1984/5, & Last Dance. Lost Highway is fine, but the abrupt fadeout sort of feels rushed and leaves the track “unfinished” to the ears. Obviously, that balances out to a 3. I feel like I need to listen to this album starting from Flitcraft, before looping around and ending on the baffling tones of “Psycho Cupid”, to see if that would make the progression of the album flow better… but I don’t want to take away from their original intent and vision. I can genuinely see both sides of the coin on this one – there’s an argument to be made for as high as a 5, and one to be made for as low as a 1, and somehow, they’d both probably be valid. I’m split on that difference, hence a 3, though I think that’s the ceiling for my own personal tastes. It’s not a bad album, just a strange, strange album. Maybe it’ll fully click one day. P.S.: The book says the following about this album: “The Mekons are one of the UK's most brilliant and undervalued groups. Formed as a loose collective in Leeds in 1977 when they started messing around with the Gang Of Four's equipment, they released a couple of chaotic LPs (plus single "Never Been In A Riot," directed at The Clash) and then took a sabbatical. Energized by the UK miners' strike of 1984 to '85, the band (with original members Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh) re-emerged with Fear And Whiskey, lauded by many as the best album of the decade.” I would love to meet the “many” here, because I think you have to be a musical freak to call this the best album of the 1980s. Maybe they're onto something, I dunno.

Not great, not bad.

This one just misses. There was potential hidden in there, but they dropped the ball.