The Mekons are by far the funniest band that I've seen live. And definitely one of the smartest. Of all the side projects Mekon band members have entertained, my favorite is still The Three Johns. Jon Langford's politically minded group formed with John Hyatt and John Burnett. They have been mostly inactive for about two decades, lying dormant like post-punk Rip Van Winkles.
Cut to 2012--apocalypse immanent. Europe is reeling through an economic crisis that it is attempting to solve with austerity, the US is in danger of electing Mick Rodney President, like a manikin come to life, a Ken doll, only less life-like. (The Republican primary was run like American Idol this time around, so what do you expect?) The war on the American public is just starting to heat up. The Syrian government is pushing back brutally against the Arab Spring. I don't think anyone really know for sure what is going on in China. And its the average person who winds up paying the price, not our wise sheperds who are making the big decisions (or lack therof). These days they seem to be more interested in shearing their flocks, not guiding them to more fertile pastures.
It's like things haven't gotten any better in the last two decades--like the modern world is rumbling forward like a big dumb chaotic hamster wheel, crushing everything in its path. As the TV has told me, there are three ways to do things: The right way, the wrong way, and the Homer Simpson way, i.e., "wrong only faster". Which way do you think we are going?
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So it seems fairly timely, that when the world is in the dire straights we find ourselves, that this ragtag, brilliantly whip-smart absurdly satirical band has come out of mothballs, just when we are in our darkest hours.
America is a country seemingly obsessed with superheroes, and escapist fantasies. Just look at the kind movies that get made these days. I think it is only fitting that The Three Johns have reunited at this time, even if it seems to be only a limited number of reunion gigs. I keep thinking that some of the 99 per centers shone a beacon for aid into the sky, like something in a Batman movie. And in some ways the brilliance of this band makes me think these guys must be some kind of musical superheroes.
It was actually weird how I came to write this. I had my birthday yesterday--went out and had a nice dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant in Danbury. I woke up in the middle of the night and the first thought in my head was---Three Johns. So I started looking on-line and found out that they played gigs for the first time in years in May, though I think they did do some gigs in 2006. Still, I can't help but wonder if I may have dreamed this reunion up all by myself.
If you listen to a lot of music, you know that one of the hardest things to do artfully is political songs.
The most well intentioned people who do a lot of them can come off sounding too self-important, like tight-asses. It's a lot easier to sing about girls and cars, and feeling sad. The other songs have a tendency to polarize, which has a negative effect as far as record sales go. The Three Johns have a confident looseness about them, and though they tackle serious issues, they also have a dark sense of humor that leavens the content of the songs. You can even dance to them! They are like a funny Gang of Four, or the urban insurgent cousins of Chicago shitkickers The Waco Brothers, who are also a Langford endeavor.
At this point in history, the Live in Chicago album is the only thing in print by these guys, and it is a corker. They are a band that leaves no target unskewered.
And at one moment they are performing Death of the European, a tremendous satirical number. Right after this, they break into a parody of Madonna's Like a Virgin. Perhaps a bit more topical back in 1985 when she ruled the Earth with a lace glove.
I went through the wilderness,
With a hole in my shoe,
I was wearing a big dress
And I was sniffing glue.
The essence of the fake 80's in a pithy nutshell. But one great tune flows into the next, like The Devil's Music, the awesome World of the Workers is Wild, Windolene, English White Boy Engineer! You have to love their moxie, their attitude, their razor sharp wit, their compassion for the people who need it. Their disdain for the music industry--see Teenage Nightingales to Wax for details. Choppy harsh guitars, catchy hooks, dance beats. Fervor and invective. And there are the great asides scattered between songs throughout the show.
These guys are absolutely great, and sadly forgotten by most people. Even sadder is that most people probably never heard of them. Music like this tends to get marginalized by the mainstream. Some of the music deals with events and issues that were current in the eighties, but quite a few of them reflect themes that are going to continue as long as we have people fighting over a piece of the economic pie, political power, and what people think. I think it would be a beautiful thing if these guys got back to creating music together again, turning their jaundiced eyes on the current state of affairs. Or at the very least getting Atom Drum Bop, World By Storm, Death of Everything and their Singles collection back in print. The Live in Chicago album is available on Langford's Buried Treasure Records. I highly recommend this excellent live document--it makes me smile and gets my blood boiling at the same time. Check it out!
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