OOOH! (Out of Our Heads)
You can't count on very much in life, but you can count on the Mekons, who celebrate 25 years of shambling, oft-brilliant agit-punk withOOOH! (Out of Our Heads). This spirited release serves up everything from drunken sing-along anthems to slice-of-life songs. Their originals have always mixed brazen politics with unsentimental humor, making them far more effective and longer-lasting than a dozenExploited. (Their first single, 1977's "Never Been in a Riot," was a direct, sarcastic response to theClash's "White Riot.") Originally art punks, band members recharged themselves with country in the mid-'80s, dabbled briefly with dance and dub, and now make a career-encompassing joyous noise. Highlights here include the circular, snaking guitars and insistent rhythms of "Thee Olde Trip to Jerusalem," which sounds likeRichard Thompsonsitting in with theEx, and the beautiful, weary "Lone Pilgrim," which brings to mind thePogues.--Mike McGonigal