Album Review- Mekons- Horror

The Mekons may be more a phenomenon than a band. Their 1978 debut single “Never Been in a Riot” is one of the finest punk (and perhaps with Television Personalities’ “Part Time Punks” one of the finest anti-punk) songs ever. 

Trying to keep it as brief as possible, the band had three of the most well regarded albums of the 1980s- 1985s Fear and Whiskey, 1987s Honky Tonkin and 1989s Rock and Roll. Wikipedia lists tons of plaudits contemporary and retroactively- (Best of the Year, Best of the Decade and so on) for these albums from a number of critics and websites like Pitchfork, Robert Christgau, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Allmusic, Village View, Blender and the New York Times. It was part of that late 80s zeitgeist that the Mekons seemed to be the Rock Music critics’ favorite band. Hard to peg down, if anyone they resembled the Pogues as they merged folk, punk, rock and blues. It was “alt country” before that term existed. 

But that momentum didn’t really carry into the 90s. Perhaps, there was really never a chance that they could turn into REM or U2 stadium fillers. The Mekons continued to make music that critics loved, but 91s Curse of the Mekons wasn’t even released in the US and they soon were dumped by their label, A&M Records. I was in college when “I (Heart) Mekons” came out in 1993. With a focus on love songs in a way only the Mekons could do love songs- I loved the record and it generally still shows up near the top of fans’ ranking of Mekons records. 

For whatever reason, I have followed the Mekons pretty closely over the decades. They’re not quite like other bands but they are fascinating. They have yet to have the same effect that they had on me as they had in 93, though critics still seem to love them (though part of that is that it’s quite hard to keep track of them. 2020s Exquisite was only self released as a digital Bandcamp release at first). So listening to 2025s Horror was at once a surprise and not a surprise. In this case, Horror seems to be the real world and the politics in it. Not a surprise for the Mekons. “The Western Design” is a history of imperialism in pop song form. Titles like “War Economy” and “Private Defense Contractor” are clues that this isn’t normal pop song fare. 

I believe there are six vocalists that take lead that are spread throughout, which is fitting in with the Mekons style. It also gives it a real concept album feel as a gorgeous melody like “A Horse Has Escaped” will follow a rocker like “Nightcrawlers”. In many ways, it’s a sound that’s identifiable as that critically acclaimed 80s band- jumping from sound to sound on each song throwing in elements and instruments like rock, reggae, violin, folk, dub, angular pop, waltz, accordion, and even whistling where it is appropriate. Not that far underneath is that late 70s punk band- the one that pops up from time to time, like it did in 2004 when the band re-recorded their early tunes for the album titled “Punk Rock”. You can find 16th Century British Politics and the Irish Famine and modern climate change. In other words, things you can only find in this combination on a Mekons record.

I spent a lot of time with this album and in a pop world where surprisingly there doesn’t seem to be that much politically themed music these days. I am happy to see the Mekons deliver an album this powerful. The early reviews I saw were average or below, but I tend to think that is partially due to the fact that the Mekons are one of those artists that will have a Rohrsach Test effect on its listeners. What you get depends on what you are looking for from the band. (To be fair, a wave of more positive reviews have since rolled in) I find this album particularly accessible and with a political punk edge that speaks to me more than a lot of their recent work.

Album Review- Hayes Carll- We're Only Human

Hayes Carll is on the list of one of my favorite new artists of the (not so) new Century. It was 2016s Joe Henry produced Lovers and Leavers album that I first noticed him. On his early albums, he cowrote songs with Jim Lauderdale, Ray Whylie Hubbard and Guy Clark. Carll has established himself in that lineage. Carll reminds me of a couple of musicians. One is one of my favorites- Steve Earle. Both are cut out of the Townes Van Zandt/Guy Clark cloth. Long time Duke (Earle’s backing band) Bucky Baxter, guitarist Kenny Vaughn who played with Earle on”Some Dreams” (as well as spending time as main guitarist with sometime Earle collaborator Lucinda Williams) and Alison Moorer (who often toured and recorded with Earle for many years as well as being an established artist in her own right, and was married to Earle) make up part of the band on Carll’s 2005 album Little Rock. 

The character in the title track of Carll’s title track of his fourth album KMAG YO-YO is a military serviceman not unlike the kind Earle has sang about, and “Stomp and Holler” from the same kind of ramble and rollick Earle does so effortlessly. Of course, when I first listened to Carll and imagined him as the next great Earle style songwriter, I didn’t know their history was going to intertwine. Earle’s seventh marriage was to Moorer (2005-2015). Carll married Moorer in 2019 and they are still married to this day. In a much publicized interview after the divorce, Earle said that his wife left him for a “younger, skinner less talented songwriter”. 

Carll is a perceptive writer but has a sense of humor too. One of his most famous songs is “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart” (not the Tom Waits song. Though he does cover “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up”). You don’t have to look too hard in his catalog to find songs like “She Left Me for Jesus” and “Jesus and Elvis”, or “Another Like You” a song about a Democrat and a Republican falling in alcohol-induced romance. He reminds me a lot of the recently passed Todd Snider, who also has made a career of switching back and forth from serious country folk to humorous songs. Carll would cover Snider (“Beer Run” “Play A Train Song”) and Snider would cover Carll (“Stomp and Holler”). The two were close friends with Snider acting as a mentor to Carll. Critics say 2025s “We’re Only Human” is a different Carll album than previously. I don’t know that it is drastically different if you really want to compare. It is certainly a bit more mature for sure (and that may be why I connect it to more than any of his previous work) but it’s still him. 

There is definitely a pervasive feeling of 2025 on this album. It is an album for a world where people just don’t get along anymore. There was always a sense of John Prine in his work, but that really feels like the vibe here. Very few songwriters can make sense of it all like the guy who wrote “Sam Stone” and “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You into Heaven Anymore”, but Carll accomplished that here. While it’s not a theme album. There’s enough songs here to bring that topic up. Songs like “Making Amends” and the title track are pretty self explanatory. The best songs are the live-and-let-love “Good People (Thank Me)” and “The Progress of Man” where “we all make big money on Bitcoin and cattle”. There’s a bit of variety in sounds and topics with “High” being a mellow waltz that Snider would have approved of. 

Songs like “One Day” and “Stay Here Awhile” sound like they could be off one of Earle’s late 90s records. Throughout the record, a variety of guests from Americana to pop country offered their assistance in cowriting or instrumentation- Shovels and Rope, Brothers Osbourne, Jared Reynolds (Ben Folds), MC Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger) Noah Jeffries (Jason Boland and the Stragglers), Gordy Quist (Band of Heathens), Brian Wright, Aaron Raitiere (Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert) and Ray Wylie Hubbard. I had my eyes on Carll for a long time. There’s a bit of parallel to Lydia Loveless who came out around the same time and has shifted from the bluntness of youth to really developing into an astute storyteller. I would attribute the comparison that both these artists scratch my particular itch (I haven’t seen any other reviewer make this connection and I doubt any will, though of interest, both Loveless and Carll show up to provide guest vocal spots on the Supersuckers’ 2016 album Holdin the Bag). 

“We’re Only Human” is one of the great Americana albums of 2025 and a testament that Carl has delivered on his potential promise all those years ago.

Album Review- Mark Mallman- Magic Time

Mark Mallman is a Minneapolis legend. I don’t know that I would have ran into his music if it had not been for a Minnesotan who told me to see him when he came to town. I saw him in 2006 which doesn’t seem that long ago. Mallman has been described as “Elton John meets Darby Crash” which feels quite accurate. His reputation as a piano player with punk attitude made wanting to see him in concert a “no brainer”. 

I find it hard to explain Mallman’s music as he is one of those musical chameleons but definitely the biggest influence is 1970s glam. There’s a lot of Bolan, Elton and Mott in his style. There’s plenty of 70s American rock too- a bit of Aerosmith, a bit of Springsteen, and yeah even maybe a bit of John Cale confrontational craziness. 

He has recorded ten solo albums starting in 1998 and on those albums- a whole list of Midwest and Minnesota rock royalty have guested-Kat Bjelland (Babes in Toyland) Davey Von Bohlen and Dan Didier (The Promise Ring)Slim Dunlap (The Replacements) Ed Akerson (Polara) Erik Applewhite (Tapes and Tapes) Jeremy Ylvislaker (Andrew Bird) Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) and Shannon Frid (Cloud Cult). Mallman is a Minneapolis legend with a star on the outside of the legendary First Avenue. It was a Minnesotan (a different one this time) that reminded me of Mallman. You see besides making solo records, he has written books, curated playlists, made music for TV and Movies, and maybe now in 2025, his highest profile gig- Musical historian on TikTok and Instagram. 

It prompted me to look to see what he had been up to, and sure enough, he had released an album a few months ago called Magic Time. He’s always been on small labels and the only time the Press really seemed to cover him was those magical “indie rock” years of the late aughts before Pitchfork and their ilk moved from Fleet Foxes, Panda Bear and Bon Iver to more pop fare like Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and Lana Del Rey. 

 In many ways. 2002s Red Ballroom was his high watermark produced by Paul Q Kolderie (Uncle Tupelo, Radiohead, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Hole, Morphine). It was around this time, he was making a name for himself with his marathon performances in Minnesota. In 2004, he performed a song over two consecutive days only breaking for the bathroom. In 2010, he performed for 78 hours straight. He would outdo that in 2012 with “Marathon 4” a continuous 180 hour moving performance, broadcast on his webpage- starting in New York going to Los Angeles with Mallman wired up in such a way his biorhythms continued the music while he was sleeping. I have to admit that the last time I took notice of Mallman’s 2016 The End is Not the End which was probably his most explicit Bowie homage- following his mother’s death, he drew heavily from Bowie’s Scary Monsters. When it came to 2020, Mallman like a lot of artists used his Covid-era time to record the memorable single “Quarantined”.

I totally missed his last album 2021s Happiness, an album that was an extension of his 2019 autobiography- “The Happiness Playlist” Checking out Mallman’s short music history videos as suggested by my Minnesotan friend, I immediately thought I would check for recent albums and sure enough, there was Magic Time- released in June of 2025, how fortuitous to find it in time to mix it into my October listening. As someone who had enjoyed Mallman’s music but never drawn to a particular album, I was shocked how much Magic Time sucked me in. I would imagine most would be put off by the cheesy horror movie cover and song titles full of cryptids, vampires and ghosts. That surely isn’t the sales pitch for a lot of indie rockers, but it somehow is the perfect fit for Mallman. 

His piano driven style is still hard to pin down, though there’s definitely an emphasis on 70s glam. Like the things that go bump in the night, it’s hard to take the proceedings too seriously. Yet, the way Mallman weaves seemingly autobiographical facts makes it a compelling listen. There’s a bit of Ben Folds. There’s Bolan of course. Yet I also hear some Warren Zevon who fittingly wrote his most famous song about a monster. The best song on the album is “I Know the Mothman” in which the most memorable character may be that of Mallman himself-a long time, high mileage musician. Songs like “Clowns” and “Christopher Lee” come close to that high watermark. For seemingly silly subjects, there’s a large amount of pathos. 

While certain songs are better than others, there’s generally no bad songs here “Screaming in My Dreams” opens with a cinematic flourish fills with biographical details. Is the real horror the Music Industry? The theme makes the album fun and smaller gems like “Seen My Own Ghost” give real depth with new wave keyboards and storytelling lyrics, while “Poison Flower” slows things to an Alice Cooper worthy glam horror ballad, and “The Cancer” is a string laden Beatlesque number with accompanying flute. If you don’t like Mallman’s voice, it’s likely that this won’t win you over. That said, I was impressed with how Mallman was able to put together a signature album this far into his career. I rate it highly and find it one of the most compelling albums of recent years.

Album Review- Voxtrot- Dreamers in Exile

Voxtrot was a favorite band of mine from the early 2000s. The Texas-based band evolved from the same vein of the Smiths and Belle and Sebastian. Like some of the British bands of the prior decade (The Smiths, Suede, Cocteau Twins), they decided to release their music in a series of EPs. There's some fantastic music on these records, and those early songs of theirs finally got compiled in 2022. The band planned on recording their debut full length album with Stephen Street (Morrissey, Blur, The Cranberries), but that did not work out and so it ended up being produced by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Kirstie MacColl). The album did not receive the rave reviews that the early songs did. The expectations were surely too high in the days where Pitchfork and its ilk were looking to break the new big thing. As a fan of the band, I think it is safe to say the debut isn't good as the EP songs. That can be attributed to the album being less guitar fueled indie rock, and more wistful bedroom piano musings. But it also has some great moments, so dismissing it seems unfair, too. 

In 2010, three years after that debut the band broke up. I am only making assumptions but I assume that based on singer Ramesh Srivastava's public communication and the musical environment, that the rollercoaster ride had lost its appeal. 

I was excited to hear Voxtrot had reunited and planning music when they made the announcement in 2025, releasing their first song in years. Ramesh had released a solo album in 2014 but he had been largely out of the spotlight. I am super excited to hear the new album. It's great to see the band get a proper "next chapter" in their story. I imagine "Quiet Noise" is the sound that the band wanted on that 2007 album. It sounds like a potential radio single and an arena singalong, but it still sounds intimate and real. It is important to focus on how great Ramesh's voice sounds. It wasn't important in the early days, but it is a real strength. I am not an emo fan, but I can see where he might translate to that crowd. Certainly, it feels in line with something that might appeal to fans of The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie and indie bands of that ilk. 

The title track evokes a little bit of the Killers with its nostalgia for U2, Duran Duran and the Smiths. Srivastava no longer sounds like the bedroom depressive hiding behind jangle guitars. You may love the album or hate it, but he's not going down without a fight. "My Peace" even with its bright production recalls the driving hunger on those early Voxtrot songs. "The Times" is reminiscent of C86 or perhaps the literate rock of Lloyd Cole, but smooth enough it could have been a college rock single from way back. "Rock and Roll Jesus" is surely more of a glam emo stomper. Those songs stray a bit from the early songs that I fell in love with, but there are those moments here too like "Fighting Back". The band on Dreamers in Exile is one that has grown over the years. It is much more steeped in pop and emo sounds with way more polish. That said, I am glad to be on this journey with them and hope this is just the first of many more records.