Edge of the World
From the days (1986) when The Mekons were starting to investigate both country music and the mythology of rock & roll comes this glorious piece of work, loose as a goose, wicked as sin, and touched as ever by the hand of God. They take on both the Everly Brothers and Hank Williams, and transform them into something that's definitely not what they were. So what is it? There's the real joy. When The Mekons reformed in 1994, they became a band outside of time and trend, willing and able to turn its hand to almost anything, yet still make the music sound like no one but The Mekons. So here you have the relative lushness of "Oblivion" and the tequila drunkenness of "Slightly South of the Border" rubbing shoulders with the very English "King Arthur" and "The Letter," which is, essentially, country & northern. But they're The Mekons. Whatever you expect, it'll be something quite different. The edge of the world is where they've always lived.--Chris Nickson