THE LITTERBOX

Absolutely fabulous

By John O'Neill

I LIKE TO believe that Rico Bell (a.k.a. Eric Bellis) is my favorite Mekon. Granted, he's the only one I've ever had the opportunity to meet, which has something to do with the fact that he's the only local resident (the rest live in Chicago and the U.K.). And while I'm certain John Langford and Tom Greenhalgh and Sally Timms et al are as wonderful individually as they are as a group, there's just something about Rico that one can't help falling for. Which is why I'm the first in line to throw an arm around, and a beer in front of, the old boy when I see him. Besides being ridiculously congenial, Rico is also modest, despite his many gifts; he's is wry, witty, and well-read, as well as being a good musician and fantastic artist – even if nobody is paying attention. In a lot of ways, he embodies the same basic traits as the on-again, off-again amalgamation he squeezes accordion for. Which, I guess, is just one more reason to buy him one should you see him about town – buying a Mekon a drink is the very least thing a music fan should do.

Proudly limping into their 25th year as an operating outfit, the Mekons have spent that entire time pretty much overlooked by the public. Frankly, it's nothing short of criminal how commercially ignored they are, even as they continue to flourish as artists. Since they began in Leeds, England, in 1977 as smarter-than-the-average-punk lefty noisemakers (ripping on the Clash with their first single, "Never Been in a Riot"), they have successfully sashayed through post-punk, folk, alt-county, electronic noise rock, bar rock and roll, dub, polka and general avant-garde mayhem, and somehow it always managed to make perfect sense. They're the ultimate contrarians – but they aren't cynics – so there's always a sense of wide-eyed fun accompanying any Mekons release. They're literate and passionate, and they make their point without getting weighty, thumbing their noses at the government, record companies, religion, and sexual politics while never forgetting to include themselves. It's an attitude that might have cost them commercially, way back when, but it has permitted them to create such consistently interesting music. These days the band sound more like a bunch of pals who get together to knock out a masterpiece every couple of seasons. And so it is with the new Out of Our Head (Quarterstick). I could say it's a complete and unblemished winner, but that seems to be the case with everything that they deliver. Better to say that it's a grand little album from an unassuming little band just waiting to be discovered for the first time.

Which brings me back to my fave Mekon. While Rico was on a recent solo tour, a sound man asked him how he'd like to sound. To which he, after a moment of thought, simply replied, "Fabulous." Which makes complete sense to me. How else would a Mekon sound?

The Mekons play Sept. 5, Starry Plough, Berk. Call for time and price. (510) 841-2082; Sept. 6, 826 Valencia, 6:30 p.m., 826 Valencia, S.F. Call for price. (415) 642-5905 (also 9 p.m., Slim's, 333 11th St., S.F. $15. 415-522-0333).

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