Reviews (page 6 of 8)
It was quite bizzare. "Meh" at best
chivalry- 2 trouble down south- 3 hard to be human again- 2 or 3 darkness and doubt- 2 psycho cupid- 3 no more i made a pyramid. anyway, i did not feel like music was playing
Really weird. 2/5
Cowpunk, post punk. Yeah I don't know about this one. I wanted to like it but at times it felt like it was trying hard to sound, well, bad. I'm not against a little dissonance but when it feels so forced, even if it might not be, it really turns me off. That being said it wasn't awful, I liked a lot of it, but I left with a weird taste in my mouth. Light 3.5/5
At times it gets to me but very quickly loses my head. Only one song stuck to me, the rest I wasn't a fan of.
Hmmm, pretty boring and non descriptive.
- Hat mir überhaupt nicht gefallen, und das trotz folkloristischen Einschlag. - Ja, mag Punk sein, war mir aber trotzdem zu chaotisch, unstrukturiert und wild. - Wenns mal geordneter hingegen, wars dann typischer Brit-RockPop und beinah schlager-esk 2/5
1-2/5
It's like a punk rock album without the punk rock. I could barely stand this and I'm glad it was a short album.
Album is very nice but I did not like the voice of the solist.
Mixed feelings here. It's not bad per se, but nothing crazily good.
Can’t finish this
It was alright. A weird mix of genres but worked at points. 2.5
Started off terrible, but towards the end it got a little better. Of course, that was when I noticed that it had ended and Spotify was playing random songs. This was garbage.
Awful.
I have to admit it really isn’t my style. If you love 80s alt rock, it’s probably pretty great. I don’t love the style so I’m out
electro-pop-western 80s vibe
Meh, pari pyöritystä videopelin ohessa ja lähinnä vitutti kuunnella.
Melko joutava
I’d be quite happy to never hear this again. At least has some musical merit so not the lowest rating possible.
Interesting album, not my style. I frankly hate these punky UK new wave vocals that are running rampant on this list. I thought the compositions were relatively interesting. This album overall had a eerie undertone which I thought was cool, and for that I will rate it middle of the road.
Going in, I wasn’t sure I would jive with this, but I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. The fiddle/violin on this fucks
Alt punk country. It's ok.
I'm listening to this and I know I would love this normally. I'm just not in the mood for it right now. Has that The Fall like post-punky vibe with a mean take on country music now and again. The politics are super lefty (which I love), but for some reason I'm just not into it now. I am adding them to my british alt playlist though.
Maybe I need another listen, but I hardly found anything of note in this album. Some things I enjoyed: 1. Short album. Love when albums are sub 45 minutes. 2. Spoken word lyrics with improv sax in the background. Other than that, it's pretty meh. 2.5/5
Fourth studio album! lol. It's a bit unique. I'd probably listen to it again, but I'm not sure how many more times.
Disappointed. Though the alt-rock alt-country-rock vibe works for me, it is the vocal delivery... whether done as a semi-melodic spoken piece or shouty half-melodic track, it does more to take away from the music. Didn't find much to latch onto.
Just ok
Not very memorable
just too out there for me
Not my vibe but inoffensive
Da fuq is this? I can’t fathom that this is one of 1001 albums anyone should listen to. What cultural impact is found here?
Fear and Whiskey is more influencial than it is good. The country/punk cross is interesting and almost surely a first. I suspect mean modern alt country artists are standing of the Mekong’s shoulders without knowing. Langford is a strong songwriter but musically it didn’t interest me as much as I hoped. Requires further listens. Influence and lyric get it a 3rd star 6.0/10
It was a fun listen. New wave, post-punk and folk mixed together, in a way that it somehow worked together.
A couple catchy tunes amidst an 80’s honky-tonk fever dream.
UK punk meets country - an interesting blend but not quite my cup of tea
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
Something pretty different here. Didn't work for me but I commend the effort.
Though it was gonna be full country
Out there! Ok sound, but not my style.
Fun listen!
Couldn't finish the first song
It took me a while to get into the alternative country vibe that this album was going for, but I appreciate the novelty of this concept. It’s not the kind of punk that I would associate with but nothing offensive about it either.
i mean i guess there is something deep down there that is okay? but its buried with boring ideas, horrible quality of recording and atrocious vocals like its just a random shitty british band from 1970s, wow, such important musics mm yes NNN
Okay album. Nothing stood out to me.
There were elements of this album that I really wanted to like but, ultimately, it just never delivered anything even approximating a satisfying experience.
Not for me.
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.
Agree with another reviewer who said it often threatens to be great but never quite gets there, not a very promising start but it got better
LOVED this, great punk album
One of the coolest genre fusions ever (country and punk? what?) completely and utterly marred by a bad vocalist. He has the mannerisms of Morrissey but without any of the vocal control. He's often out of tune as well. Otherwise, the instrumentation is tight. The percussion is a bit repetitive and artificial, but the liveliness of the guitar, bass, backing vocals, and fiddle make up for it. Fear and Whiskey also has a fairly unique sound (I haven't heard anything like it before) with its odd genre and spacious mixing. Nice live performance feel. As a side note, I'm 250 albums in, and I've found myself criticising vocalists more than any other musician. Maybe I'm being a little too harsh; maybe my standards have been raised by the likes of Lennon, Mercury, Wilson, Cooke, Wonder. But then, a vocalist is usually a frontman, a spokesperson, a figurehead. It's their responsibility to hold the band's sound together. 3/5 Key tracks: Trouble Down South, Last Dance, Country
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
Bottom of the barrel or whiskey. British gibberish. 2/10
Not much more annoying than a fiddle played out of tune.
I’ve forgotten it already
Hated this from the first note
Some I liked, some was a little much.
We’re back to “meh, this was fine”
This was ok. Didn’t seem as alt-country as the Wikipedia page said. They have a lot of albums..
Meh. I appreciate this for paving the way for future alt-country albums, but that’s about the extent of it.
Nothing wrong with it and it was interesting to listen to, but it just didn’t do it for me
At #150 there have already been a few albums of the Punk But Let's Make It Weird variety but this might be the most egregrious yet. I could be arsed to find some qualities in it - like when no one's singing and the reverb is up - but I don't want to.
4/5
Nother group I never heard of.
College radio . Pub rock. More Celtic than country really. A poor man’s Pogues? Not much here to come back to.
It grew on me.
great stuff!
Who is this for? Atrocious singing. Instruments sound like they’re coming out of a Casio keyboard.
Ah, one more in a long, long, LONG line of English bands from the 80s/90's that I've never heard of. Sigh. Some of them have been pretty decent, some have not been. This is the latter, Not good. its all rather irritating. 1/5
Not too bad
Alltaf gaman að kynnast einhverju nýju. Hafði aldrei heyrt um Mekon. Mjög skemmtileg plata og á eftir að kíkja betur á tónlistina þeirra.
Singer is awful and melodies are overcrowded
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
Dirt music. Sounds like shoving dirt into my mouth and swallowing it. Not the biggest fan, but I sort of appreciate what it's doing.
i love the pogues!!!!!!!!
Ehhh...
Bloody awful! Nasty voice, lame songs, one of the few albums I couldn't listen all the way through
Je comprends l'attrait que cet album peut avoir avec le mélange de post-punk et de folk/country. J'ai l'impression que c'est très probable que cet album a grandement contribué à la scène indie des début 2000. Par contre j'ai trouvé ça un peu long et la voix du chanteur était très oubliable. 5/10
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.
Incoherent rambling, too much violin … and obviously too much whisky. I wouldn’t pay the cover to see these mopes in a pub.
Couldn't get into this at all, dunno what to think, bizarre but not in a good way
Kind of an odd mishmash of styles and sounds that at times resembles a British Pogues and other times a sloppy, drunk cowpunk band. Love it (or hate it). with the Mekons you never know what you'll get song to song, album to album. Some songs are really good and the record feels on the verge of greatness, but the expectations are never quite met and it feels more like a disappointment. Definitely, hit or miss, there are better Mekons albums worth listening to and this one, well...have a shot of whiskey, followed by many more, then listen again. It gets better...trust me.
Hated every second of it. F teir
Just an overall cool album that some folks hold up as the first alt-country album. Much different from the 90s version of alt country, but it's easy to see how this album serves as a bridge between post punk and country. The songs are really fun, and they vary a lot from song to song 4/5
Excellent, a great surprise, reminded me of the Pogues and the Clash combined.
I really enjoyed this; found it quite haunting and will definitely listen again.
This is weird. Early 80’s voice, but then a bit of punk, a bit of country. What are you doing.
Just okay, didn’t really care for the talking. 2.5/5
Saw these guys live once and they were really fun. The album was just ok.
Another unknown British post punk band? But this didn't work for me.. seems like they don't know what they are trying to do
Similar vibe to Billy Bragg... not quite as good but ok :-)
Lidt mærkelig post punk/rock
Weird, but I quite liked it.
Wanted to like it, but was noisy meh.
Someone failed New Wave School.
Ambitious mix of genres ranging from mountain country to punk, but it didn’t go together like peanut butter and chocolate for me.
Not bad, I liked the music but it didn’t really convince me. Something is missing here. But the ideas are quite good
This sounds like Syd Barrett trying to sound like the 80’s versions of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones if the Beatles had made it that far. More than once while listening to this album I thought to myself “what the fuck?”. I’ve liked some albums that others have not liked. I guess the tables turned on this one. Choice Cut: Hard to be Human Again
It sounds familiar, but somehow not. But I guess I've listened to so much 80s indie Brit-pop for that to be the case
Didn't love this one. Listened to it this morning and genuinely none of it stuck out to me.
4.1 - Down the street from my old Brooklyn apartment was this late-night takeout spot with a raggedy yellow awning called the "Happy Taco." Its Chinese proprietors served up Mexican and Chinese basics, and mashed up both cuisines liberally. For example, it wasn't uncommon to order a quesadilla and find it made with rice papers instead of tortillas. Another pleasant surprise was when they gave you pork fried rice with your adjoining refried beans instead of the yellow rice that's more traditional. Despite the cultural incongruities, I liked their food -- it always hit the spot after a night of drinking. The Mekons have approached country music in a way that feels similar to how the "Happy Taco" interprets Mexican food. There's little reverence for tradition, or cultural norms. Sure, there may be whiffs of country elements on here (e.g., fiddling and bluesy guitar picking). But mostly, they smear on their own post-rock sounds, creating something messy, sometimes confusing, and overall quite compelling. Oh, and to make this record even weirder, they throw in a few spoken word asides (see "Psycho Cupid...").
No thanks
Oof. This was not that great at all. Sometimes I question albums that are on this list. This is one such time,
I wasn't expecting the Mekons to sound like this! There are some really terrific moments here but I guess it's a 3 star.
80s through back British punk
очень мучает меня скрипка, особенно кантри-расстроенная. может и было что интересное на этом альбоме, но запомнила только мерзкую скрипку…
It's like The Pogues but much worse
To be honest I was hoping for more
Not quite the Ramones
Never heard of them. Hoping to forget them.
Hmmm
It was kind of like hey Mom can we have some of the Pogues and Mom said no we have the pugs at home. I'll delete it for space on the phone I'll keep it for posterity on the external hard drive that I put on shuffle for parties.
An uninspired jumble of words and sounds. Claims to be a concept album with obviously no concept.
Idk man. Think kinda sucked, maybe it’s like historically important or the lyrics are strong but the music sounds like kid show theme music and the singer can’t sing.
This felt like a confusing mess at times and a confusing success at other times. Wikipedia classifies it as "alternative rock, alternative country" and, yeah, I couldn't classify it either. The guy's singing voice was terrible but it didn't take me completely out of it. 3 stars, but it was an average of some really good and really bad parts rather than a bunch of mediocre parts.
bizarre but not in a good way
A bit like a less thrilling Dexys, but by no means bad. The flat vocals keep this from being a casual listen, but the potent lyricism balances that out a bit.
On paper I should like this a whole lot more than I do. Perhaps it’s because i know their other stuff marginally better. Ghosts of American astronauts comes to mind as better. This just didn’t gel with me but it’s not bad.
I rated this a 3 because I read that it was considered the first alt-country record and they deserve credit for that. I appreciated the coming together (kind of) of the yell-y punk and the folk that made me think of an Irish ceilidh.
Is it me, or does everyone in this band seem lazy? Starting with the lead vocal, there seems to be no interest in exerting themselves musically or otherwise, and it made for a less-than-inspiring listening experience. Ho-hum.
I bought this one years ago on the strength of great reviews, but i always struggled to connect with it. Today, I was surprised at how much of this album I remembered. Darkness and Doubt has been in my head all day. Anyway, I appreciate this album more than like it.
Absolutely loved this! Country meets Velvet Underground in northern England.
I liked the first couple of tracks, but I was bored of it by the end.
In the first 15 seconds I asked myself ‘Is this supposed to be country?’ before later learning it’s one of the first examples of alt-country. It sounded messy and disjointed, the country/new-wave crossover was unappealing to me.
This album had me so conflicted. There were points that I wasn’t really sure about this album and then there were other points where I said to myself “this album is a masterpiece.” All the interlaying sounds work together in such a way that I could see people giving up on it by giving it just a surface listen but the further I got the more I understood it. “Trouble down south” was my favorite track.
Not listened yet
Remove the energy from punk and combine it with the "woe is me" lyrics from country, throw in a violin, and you get this truly depressing unmucial awful album. I could feel my will to live slipping away as I listened to it. This album only gets one star because I can't give it zero.
There are some interesting ideas in here, but it really doesn't resonate with me. I'm not a fan of the sound, including the production. I can't see wanting to return to this any time soon.
Enjoyed aspects of it but just missed the mark for me.. a bit too experimental
Incredibly unique, utterly bizarre. Unfortunately this is a blend of genres that just does not work.
I can see why critics seem to love this album. It's raw, genre blending, and not afraid to rake risks. It jumps from punk to country to rock to Irish folk styles effortlessly. Unfortunately this didn't quite materialize in a way that worked for me. Some tracks like Hard to be Human Again were stronger than others. Wish I liked it more than I did, and wouldn't advise against listening to it.
Bad.
This might not be a fair rating because I only had time to listen to three songs today but I didn’t like them. Sorry!
Interesting experimentation but I can't say I'd want to listen to it again. I like some of the poetry but didn't care for the vocals. None of the songs really stood out. Two-and-a-half to be precise
Weird and experimental but charming even with its imperfections.
3.5 stars. A bit weird, kinda alt-country new wave-ish at times. Harmonica makes things more interesting than generic alt-rock, more upbeat tempo than standard country.
Medio punk así gracioso. Sin más.
Beautiful cover art. A quick scroll in Spotify shows that this band makes amazing artsy cover arts. And while their sound is equally artsy, I have mixed reactions with it. It's amazing yet terrible, and overall daring. That's experimental rock for you.
Not sure what to say. Some songs were nice, some were awful. Some had decent production, some sounded shit. 2.5/5 but I’m rounding down because I’d be ok not hearing ever again
Just a little weird
I don't think I quite got this album. It has the feel that if you had a game show that randomly picked teams of 4 people off the street, gave them quick music lessons and had them create songs with the winners getting a record deal and touring contract, you'd have this album.
Not my jam.
Not the biggest fan of this style, I suppose.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Day74 - genius poets,maybe-bad karaoke, sounds like it-punks with synthesizer and violins, that too. guess who liked it though? this guy
🦶
It's not the worst thing I have listened to but not far from it
This album started off strong with "Chivalry" and I thought perhaps my preconceived notion that I may not enjoy this album was wrong. The second song had talking in the middle of it, which annoyed me. I think talking disrupts the flow of a song and it is (mostly) a cheap tactic to avoid writing lyrics. I don't even know what Psycho Cupid is. A song, I guess, but it's just odd. I feel like I have been harsh of late and I don't mean to be. I'm convinced the only people who enjoy this album are those who do so ironically or want to be different.
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.
Post punk is a weird genre. On the more underground, low production side of this era there are two types of bands; sloppy production, but has charm and owns the sound and they are actually really good, or experiment in ways that nobody asked for and end up making something really weird, and not in a good way. This album is definitely the latter. It's annoying, and the low production quality has absolutely zero charm to it. It almost sounds like they weren't even self aware that it sounds awful, and they took this album too seriously. The idea is definitely there, but I don't think the violins sound good at all, they just make this album sound even more messy and chaotic than it already is.
Not bad. Not great either.
An interesting choice that was good to listen to Ideologically sound Musically dull An album that hasn’t aged well
Not bad, but not great. Interesting lyrics 2.5
Its not a bad album, but I cant get into it. Theres nothing wrong with it, its just not grabbing me. Three stars because its OK, but cant go higher unless theres something there, and there aint. 3/5
I really wanted this to be good. Or I at least really wanted to like it. I'm preconditioned to like any album released in 1985, my favorite year. Sometimes an album can be both things and we call that a win. This was neither, but that it became just a wee bit interesting, enough so that it missed out on a dreaded 1 rating. It's interesting in the way the song "Bonnie & Clyde" from the late '60's is interesting. But again, that doesn't always necessarily mean "good". So I went and listened to the Gin Blossoms. How I made that leap is a question I'll leave for the scholars. But listening to the Gin Blossoms reminded me that the band's three best songs were written by Doug Hopkins, their former guitarist and a self-destructive fella who the band's label forced out of the band. To make matters worse, they then paid him $15,000 to go away and lose out on all publishing royalties. So the dude then kills himself while songs he penned were climbing the charts. Even if you don't enjoy the Gin Blossoms, you can at least admit that story of poor Doug Hopkins is interesting.
Nothing special.
What is happening
Country? If you say so wikipedia. Sounds like Irish folk punk... Like the Pogues or something. But English. Enjoyable enough.
If Wilco and, I don't know, The Clash? had a new wave baby. This was an unexpected and pretty wild journey. I was ready to sit through a bland, mid country album based on the cover and title, but was pleasantly surprised. Just because there's violin throughout the record doesn't make it country music. This band doesn't seem to give a shit about appeasing anyone but themselves, and I really dig that, even if not every track clicked for me. The best thing this record offers is inspiration. You can hear so much of what major artists would go on to do in the next 10 years here.
The punk-meets-country aesthetic and familiar angsty English vocal seemed bound for a 3 at best, but the synthesis oddly compelled and propelled something in me.
For what this is, it’s solid. There’s another ‘fear of the bomb’ 80’s song in here and it made me notice an interesting split in music and how it represents different perspectives on life. I don’t think too many black artists were making songs about fearing the bomb during the Cold War, and instead were making songs about the struggles of day to day life. Interesting to see how that split has evolved over the years
I don’t know, seemed weird and indulgent to me
Mekons Fear and Whiskey 78.52 Chivalry(76) Trouble Down South(82) Hard To Be Human Again(82) Darkness And Doubt(79) Psycho Cupid(84) Flitcraft(60) Country(76) Abernant 1984/5(85) Last Dance(87) Lost Highway(65)
А это вообще музыкально? Почему-то людям нравится "страх и виски", но вокалист даже не попадает в ноты. Да что там, нот для вокала даже нет. Лучший трек это psycho cupid, потому что я люблю когда девушки рассказывают историю под музыку томным голосом. В остальном -- мега пас
Me gustó más de lo que me habría esperado!
For something described as "one of the first alternative country albums" I was very excited about this. It didn't connect with me, though. The vocals were a bit flat, but not in an enjoyable way. I like the direction it took, but I didn't like the music as much as I wanted to.
With the exception of Flitcraft and Abernant this to me is a pretty lacklustre album that had more misses than hits.
Really not a fan
It had stuff. 3.5
Not great not terrible pretty weird. Overall meh
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
More background music, not very outstanding
very interesting combo of country and punk. 4 stars.
Folksy, new wave and Brit punk. Not really my style.
I don’t think this is for me… I feel like I’m listening to dads in a backyard singing over pretty good tracks. Some of the songs are decent but I don’t think I’d listen again.
Friends of Gang of Four. With quite similar rocky punky sound.
Tjaaaa .. mein Punk-Herz wird angesprochen ... aaaber ...
Liked it enough to possibly explore other Mekons music…couldn’t put my finger on who the singer(s) voice reminded me of…
Another new album to me so another potential discovery. I enjoyed a few tracks but others not so. The violin backing on some of the tracks was good but the sometimes out of tune singing and instrumentation was at times jarring. I could tell that this was an honest attempt by the group to do something very different and judging it with what was around 40 years ago they succeeded. If I didn’t know it was from the 80’s then I would have never guessed as it is hard to categorise this album by genre or time which is to its credit and probably why it is on this list. I appreciate what it’s trying to achieve but not something I will return to personally.
Most of this record is just noise with fiddle playing that clashes with the other instruments. A couple decent songs but not enough for me to ever come back to this.
Again, this experience has afforded me the opportunity to sample music I'd not heard of nor would have tried. I sampled the first 4 songs after about 30 seconds each. Just not what I'd add to my library/play list. Thanks, we're enjoying this.
Just ok. Probably won't seek out listening to them.
Liked it!
Never heard of these guy's before. Sounds like a combination of easy-going punk/Cajun/country-folk, I LIKE IT!! I would not normally listen to something like this, but I'll keep these guys in my scopes and listen to more.
Damn. The author of this book loves pub rock. I don’t drink enough to make this sound good.
langweilig und nervig
Did not enjoy this!
Nah
Oha, was ist das denn? Interessant, originell, kein 0815-Sound, also toll!
Really wanted to like this one after the review said it was the “first alt-country” record. Couldn’t make it through 3 songs.
Heavy on the northern English vibes, lots of violin. Kinda all over the place, not all too pleasant. Would maybe be good at a pub? Gives pub rock vibes.
I can appreciate that they’re doing something unique here, but that doesn’t mean I like it or really understand what’s going on.
saw them open for pavement! they’re fun!
Didn’t really get into it. Chivalry was okay.
Horrid
I had not listened to a Mekons album before listening to Fear and Whiskey. I had heard about it being singled out as one of the first alternative country albums, so I was interested to see what the Mekons were all about. I enjoyed the album and now need to go back and listen to more of their catalog.
Virtually unlistenable. Like a cat was being mauled inside a garbage can
Flitcraft was fun and reminded me of Dropkick Murphy’s. No idea what was going on in Psycho Cupid. Brain was definitely exercising on that one…
Had never even heard this name before. It's ok, but didn't really hook me on anything. Can see where they fit in to the overall Brit punk genre.
Solid rock. Good but diden't leave an impactful impression
Not really my taste in music
Interesting sound. I don't know who it was for in 1985. Or today for that matter. Very British. Like Depeche Mode trying to do hillbilly impressions.
Forgettable 80s Brit Rock/Post Punk/Something
Some displays of talent intermixed with horrible sounding music
vissa låtar är goa medan andra är lite störiga.
A poor mans The Pogues.
A pioneering cowpunk album that may well be the birth of alt country and I love the synth drums.
Didn't like it, too bad some songs have great melodies but I really wished they were singed by a better voice.
I've been meaning to listen to this band for a while. Country + punk is something that I very much enjoy and this was one of the first bands of not THE first to do it.
Whenever I'm about to listen to one of these albums and the Wikipedia says this one "marked a dramatic shift in the band's sound" I just assume it's a band of white dudes playing mediocre rock music who decided to add something other than guitar this time. I haven't been wrong yet. This album was meh, there's been much better versions of this sound done by much better bands.
This is definitely the album that I listened to today.
meh
Literally terrible. I hated every second of this.
Alt-country is, in my opinion, a very generous term for this. It's post-punk with some notes of Springsteen-style Americana. A lot of tracks on here remind me of your friend's bad art-rock project. It feels very chaotic, and kind of like it's hinting at something much better, but never really getting super close to it. One song really hits well, and honestly after some deliberation, causes it to escape the 1-star graveyard. But man, it was close. Favorite track: "Last Dance"
It grew on me over time
Great for what it is, but not for much else. I think if you put a real country artist as the vocalist this would hit a million times harder. Favorites were Hard To Be Human Again and Lost Highway.
Another band I thoroughly enjoyed, but was previously unaware. And I was a big punk, new wave fan in the 80s!
Punk country? Strange, I dig it. Favorite track: Hard to be Human Again
3/5. This was good? It's definitely different and that's a nice change of pace. I do think with some time I will like this a lot, with its interesting melodies and instrumentation. It goes hard in some songs and I don't know how British voices feel more comfortable in country music than artists from the Southern United States sometimes. Again, it's good, but too different to feel correct to give higher than 3.
Yeah I don’t knownabout this one. What a weird album. I found it hard to find anything likeable on this album, too bad. 2 out of 10
Interesting instrumentation and style. Not something I had heard of before. Hard To Be Human Again was my favorite song.
3.8 - some songs were a bit challenging but overall enjoyed
This album has a distinct sound. Darkness and Doubt reminds me of some later Clash. The tracks feel more like standard country-folk rock fare in the second half and do less for me. Still liked this overall Fave Songs: Trouble Down South, Hard To Be Human Again, Psycho Cupid - Danceband On the Edge of Time 3.3/5
punky
Not without charms but the kind of loose and extemporaneous nature is ultimately to its detriment I think.
Sounds Like Robert Smith violating the violin
:thumbsdown:
Not super
December 14, 2023 Interesting album, definitely it's own thing with the foundation of Irish tunes getting a punk and synth treatment.
Interesting to think that this is the first blend of country and punk, while still carrying some distinct 80's British tone. It's odd and doesn't quite sit well after one listen, but there's a lot of rawness displayed in an appreciable way
cool
I did enjoy it. It was quite listenable
Ass
12/13/23. Enjoyable, would listen again as there’s some fun tracks.
Dug this. It reminded me of that song Bug Country and the singer reminded me of the guy from the Pastels. I was lukewarm at first but thought the second half was really strong and had a pretty unique sound. Last Dance was my fave.
This was good both musically and lyrically and I liked the political charge that permeated the whole album. Unfortunately nothing really drew me in for a second lesson but I still thought it was good
Not familiar with this band. Some songs had a bit of a Joe Strummer sound and some were a bit countryish. Overall I liked the album. Favorite track was Lost Highway. I would listen to this again.
I liked the country portion of this album much more than the other portion. Some of it reminded me of the Pougues its its musical fusion. It was fine but I don’t think I’d listen again.
A bit oddness coming up. I don't really mind it. But after some time it can get tiring. I kinda dig the folky parts.
Why?
Awful everything !!!!!!
Harmonica is nice to hear. It's a little noisy, especially on certain songs. It has a decent vibe. I really like some of the instruments and sounds, but I also didn't find anything particularly interesting. It was very easy to listen to while working, which is both good and bad. Singer is kinda not for me.
I jinxed it...surprise surprise, another UK band. Funny, it says it was released with commercial success but no mention of where it landed on the billboard charts...I need to stop judging and just listen to this. Upon listening, I can fully stand by my prior comments. It’s sad when an album makes me wish we were done with this list. Just annoying that we get put through so many inconsequential albums like this. I literally feel like I'm listening to the animatronic animals at Chuckee Cheese, and after the two powerhouse albums we got, it's just frustrating.
Woof. I know I'm just bitter that this album broke the streak of classics, but still, it's really pretty nothing. I made it so far into this thing before finding the one song that I would keep, and even then I wasn't sure if it was pity or stockholm syndrome. I know they can't all be Jimi Hendrix or Outkast, but I know there are hundreds of better albums out there that should be on this list, and this one shouldn't. Favorite tracks: Last Dance. Album art: Pretty cool color-graded shot of a desert highway. A shame the music is nowhere near as interesting. 1.5/5
Fine
eh
I was not really into this, but I don't think this was bad. Not really my type of music, but I would not be in pain if I had to listen to this again.
Really liked this country/punk mix, worked for me
Alsof iemand een grote pan soep heeft getrokken van The Cure, Yellowcard, John Denver en een zeerover met een houten poot en een ooglap. Een soort hele vreemde musical of een avondje doorhalen in een karaokebar. Een Flogging Molly coverband waarbij elk bandlid een aardig vlekje heeft. Ik denk dat zelfs snordragende Nevel-drinkers in tiny houses hiervan zullen zeggen dat het wel erg hipsterig is. Regelmatig vies vals. Er gebeuren ook wel leuke dingen. Als je goed zoekt heb je wat leuke gitaardingetjes bijvoorbeeld. Als geheel is het een beetje veel allemaal. Afhankelijk van je geduld is het de eerste twee tot vier nummers vooral leuk omdat het ook wel fascineert, maar daarna verzandt het een beetje in een soort lads-on-tour dronkemans-tafereel. Lastig te beoordelen. Ik ga voor twee sterren, omdat ik hier nooit meer iets van ga aanzetten, maar voor een keer was het ook wel weer grappig.
Surprise surprise, another obscure 80s UK new wave record! This one was at least a bit different. They took more of a punk route with some added country (?) elements that borderline a celtic sound. This really reminds me of some drunken UK pub band. I'm American god dammit, I want my punk music loud and in your face! I need to throw on some Bad Brains to reset myself.
Nothing great. It wasn't terrible, but I want overly impressed. I think the album got better towards the end.
Horrible
Not for me thanks
9/10 absolutely wonderful I truly adored this
bust out the fiddle and the harmonica this is fun as hell
the reviews for this were soooo mixed but i thought it was pretty fun. maybe i'm just biased towards the fiddle
Okay. I get and respect what they were trying to do with this album. But a lot of the time it really felt like I was listening to an amateur band at a bar cover a song that I usually enjoy while I sit back and wait for it to be over. The singing especially wasn't my thing. I don't know, I think the album felt too similar to other mid 80s albums that I DO enjoy, so this one really fell flat to me. It was so close to being something that I would've loved that I got very annoyed instead. Favorites: Psycho Cupid (genuinely good!!), Last Dance. Also wasn't too mad about Darkness and Doubt and Flitcraft. Lost Highway was a bizarre album closer- feels like the sort of song John and Paul would've given Ringo.
Enjoyed this enough.
I really grooved in this as it reminded me of early 80’s music I liked
5/10 - Alternative Country with a splash of rock Some decent songs though
Country alternative ? Sounds horrible… wait That’s fucking good but what is Eminem doing here
Really enjoyed it. Fun little jams. Not too pretentious.
I was skeptical when I heard this was a punk country album, but I was pleasantly surprised by how creative and innovative it was. It must have been a groundbreaking album when it came out in 1985. The lyrics are strong and deal with the dark realities of war and oppression. However, some of the country elements feel a bit cheesy and out of place. This is an album worth listening to at least once, but I don't think I'll revisit it often. I give it three stars out of five.
Pretty bland and boring, wouldn't repeat.
Good big noise, urban folk.
Country punk? British accent yet different? Was okay.
Gutes Album. Aber nicht mein Vibe. Aber dafür, dass es aus den 80er kommt super progressiv. Hat sich angefühlt wie ein 00er Brit Pop Album.
I just couldn’t get through this album. It was mediocre.
Very average album, which for me is a mix of post punk and Irish folk songs, but it really sounds just straight up average. I couldn't listen to the whole album, just fast forward a couple times, but I didn't get the atmosphere or the style at all. Just not a record for me.
Wonderfully discordant. I'd only heard Deserted from 2019 and that was great. So, good to have one of their early albums on my radar, will definitely revisit.
Fun and unique
If I could give half-stars I'd give this 2-1/2 stars. At times this was a 3 for me and at other times a 2. Reading the description that this was a cross between punk and country or an early example of alt-country, had me looking forward to this one. I was hoping for a bit more country leaning as I'm not much of a punk fan but this was an OK listen.
Not my style too emo
It was fun and alternative short but sweet
La voz no es lo mío, para nada pero la música suena interesante a veces hard to be human again, last dance, lost highway las mejores puf alguna es infumable 2 estrellas
Not good
Nice little Irish zang in there but overall didn’t love it 2.5/5
Definitely odd. Don’t know if I liked it or not but at least it was unique
First 1 star review - couldn’t finish this album as just not my taste at all.
Was isch mit dere huere giige?
Couldn’t get down with it
***** = Amazing (90 - 100%) **** = Great (75 - 89%) *** = Good (50 - 74%) ** = Average (35 - 49%) * = Poor (0 - 34%)
Genuis artsy Folk-(Punk)Rock with yelly parts, smooth choirs, strange but always catchy arrangements. I feel like knowing this before listening to it for the 1st time.
Not for me
I'm just not much of a fan of arthouse bands. From a music perspective, the songs are solid, the lyrics are quite good, the musicians are talented (singing could use an upgrade), but ultimately there just seems to be so much noise layered over their art for what only seems to me, the sake of "art".
On paper should like it, in reality, despite the many times I tried to warm up to it, it couldn't stick. The related bands though are up my street, but probably they were recommended to me due to this band's previous punk output. The record itself, fell flat to me, but it's not bad, just forgettable.
4/10. This was kind of interesting, and the first song was alright. If it were any longer I'd probably detest it, though
For most of this album I was just wondering wtf I was listening to. Not that it was all bad, exactly, just weird. 4/10
Meh. Bit meh. Fine. Not too good, nothing too bad. Hoped for more
Shit
I have failed this record. Its charm, wit and inventiveness is clear, but the songs brushed politely past me. Give it another ten years, if I remember I’ll try Fear and Whiskey again. (Great title.)
Another thing I enjoy about this website is you get reminded of old favorites you have forgotten about over the years. I used to love "Mekons Rock'n'Roll" but haven't thought much about them since the early '90s. Never heard this one before, it's enjoyably quirky and characteristic of its time, setting out their distinctive indie-folk/country sound. Good stuff but I prefer the Sally Timms era where it's a bit more polished. Off to listen to "Ghosts of American Astronauts" now...
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.
Meh
A lovable oddball of an album that one wants to love more than one actually does. "Chivalry" and "Darkness and Doubt" are best and most memorable cuts. "Psycho Cupid" also terrific and seemed to set up the spoken-word template followed by REM, Belle & Sebastian, the Clientele et al. To quote the band, "fear and whiskey will keep you going." Rounding up for being a unique and truly original little melange.
It was good
Favourite songs: Last Dance, Abernant 1984/5, Chivalry, Flitcraft Least favourite songs: Psycho Cupid Trouble Down South, Darkness and Doubt 3/5
Pogues-y, interesting and exactly what makes the Project what it is. Is it great? No. Am I glad I listened? Yes.
What even is this? Just rubbish that hardly anyone has ever bothered listening to.