The ground begins to shake, deep unnerving tremors. Could this be the dead rising; forcing their way up through the earth to walk again? Not this time, it’s the tectonic power of the new Black Mekon album 13 Songs About Monsters. 13, here, is a very lucky number. 13 ghoulish slices of monster-related gritty, fuzzed-up and howling wolfman blues. This is also their thirteenth album.
It’s hard to believe there are only two members of the band: Brother Mekon on guitar and vocals and Brother Mekon on drums. The riffs keep on coming. Low slung twangs with fangs, and drums that hit hard, pumping the radioactive lifeblood of the band around every song. Brother Mekon’s vocals are urgent and snarled from a dimension where fuzz and distortion are like oxygen for a Mekon. Just listen to The Ballad Of The Composite Cryptozoic Kid or ‘Radioactive Wolfman’ which has enough power to break a Geiger Counter.
Hands down Black Mekon are in my top 10 favourite bands of all time. If I want to listen to a band that will get my blood pumping both on record and live then Black Mekon ding the bell ding on my internal test-your-strength machine every time. If the cast of The Walking Dead played the track ‘Zombies!’ on repeat the undead would stop trying to eat the living and start frugging to the beat instead.
I like to think that Black Mekon journeyed to our time after escaping from a 50’s theme park in the distant future that has taken DNA from T-Rex, Link Ray and The White Stripes to create the ultimate rock and riff band. The band say they come from a town called Christ’s Gasoline; whose to say who’s right. What I know for certain is that they have the look: sharp suits, quiffs, and Kato masks; they know how to release an album (the limited-edition record of 13 Songs About Monsters is glow-in-the-dark vinyl and comes with a luminous Radioactive Wolfman toy), they have also created their own video game, action figures, bubble-gum, a fully functional arcade machine, the “Mekonizer” fuzz pedals, an animated movie, and several comics. They also kick ass live.
Black Mekon effortlessly bend blues and rock and roll to their diabolical will. 13 Songs About Monsters is all the rides at the spooky haunted fun fair from Scooby Doo with a monster-mash-up of Bela Lugosi’s noir Dracula partying with the crimson red of Christopher Lee’s Count. The final song on the album – ‘Kill Them’ – is one their greatest, their warped take on ‘Wild Thing’ with acoustic and slide guitar, the harmonies of early Queen, and more grit than a gravel pit.
Once again Black Mekon have proven why are one of the best bands in the world on one of the best record labels; PNKSLM. I want to be a Brother Mekon when I grow up.
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Review by Paul F Cook
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