The Mekons' debut The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen is being reissued

The Mekons' 1979 debut is out June 21st on Superior Viaduct. Jon Langford plays The Horseshoe May 23. 

After two singles for Fast Product, Leeds art-punk collective The Mekons signed with Virgin Records in 1979. The band would have to borrow gear from their mates Gang Of Four to record their major label debut. In classic Mekons style, the album's back cover featured a photo of Gang Of Four instead of themselves.

As Simon Reynolds writes, "The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen got a mixed reception at the time. Listening to it now, though, the first LP sounds more of a piece with the band's early punk singles. What's striking is the commonality of sound across the three key Leeds groups of that moment (Gang Of Four, Delta 5 and The Mekons). There are textural affinities in terms of scrawny abrasiveness and a general departure from rock 'n' roll norms of singing and emoting."

With boundless energy, The Mekons net a dozen barbed takes on pop culture, art and politics. "What Are We Going To Do Tonight" stands out as a razor-sharp critique of leisure, while "Beetroot" drowns apathy in angular riffs and catchy, unmelodic chants. Check out "What Are We Going To Do Tonight" and The Mekons' Peel Session from 1979 below.

Clad in one of the most striking record covers of its era, The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen is now available in the US for the first time. Liner notes by Simon Reynolds.




The Mekons – The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen
Like Spoons No More
Join Us In The Countryside
Rosanne
Trevira Trousers
After 6
What Are We Going To Do Tonight
What
Watch The Film
Beetroot
I Saw You Dance
Lonely And Wet
Dan Dare

Simon Finn's folk-psych curio Pass The Distance resurfaces

Simon Finn's cult corker Pass The Distance is being reissued by Superior Viaduct on November 23.

Few albums define a genre as succinctly as Simon Finn's Pass The Distance does for psychedelic folk. Not even landmark recordings by Pearls Before Swine or Skip Spence can stand up to the sheer madness of Finn's sole LP, originally released in 1970.

After moving to London in 1967, Finn busked around town for a couple years before entering Camden's Chalk Farm Studios, best known for producing a string of reggae hits. Pass The Distance, however, would become more than a solo-acoustic project.

Backed by free-improvisation innovators David Toop and Paul Burwell, Finn's dark, personal songs unravel lysergically over 40 minutes. Toop's sinewy electric guitar and Burwell's broad percussive palette lift up Finn's ardent strumming and snarling vocals, making this one wild ride in catharsis, introspection and raw merriment.

As Finn tells journalist Dave Segal in an interview for this vinyl reissue, "The songs were about alienation and loneliness. 'Jerusalem' came to me in one shot. I wrote it on mescaline and was playing it over and over and one of my flatmates wrote it down."

Pass The Distance remains a "cult record" in the best sense of the term, possessing a hypnotic beauty all its own. Pre-order a copy via Superior Viaduct right here.

Check out the video of Simon Finn performing the songs of Pass The Distance with  Maja Elliott and Joolie Wood  from Current 93 following the track listing below.

Simon Finn - Pass The Distance (Antarctica Starts Here)
Very Close Friend
The Courtyard
What A Day
Fades (Pass The Distance)
Jerusalem
Where's Your Master Gone
Laughing 'Til Tomorrow
Hiawatha
Patrice
Big White Car

Happy Birthday Joe McPhee!

Celebrating Joe's birthday with "Shakey Jake" off his Nation Time LP reissued by Superior Viaduct on Nov 23.

Superior Viaduct reissuing John Bender's 1980 DIY electro gem in May

I Don't Remember Now / I Don't Want To Talk About It is out May 20 in an edition of 1000 hand-stamped LPs.

John Bender recorded voraciously between 1978 and 1980 at his home in Cincinnati, Ohio. Not even song titles could slow down his creative pace, as he named all the tracks after their position on the original tapes. "36A2," for example, was cassette #36 side A, piece #2. To close the DIY aesthetic circle, Bender made sleeves by hand with no two covers alike and pressed the LPs in hyper-limited editions.

I Don't Remember Now / I Don't Want To Talk About It, Bender's first album from 1980, is the holy grail of minimal lo-fi electronics. Layers of fractured melodies, distorted synthesizers, hollowed-out rhythms and claustrophobic vocals unfold over the 40 minutes of this lost masterpiece. "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl," one of Faust's greatest songs, is perfectly deconstructed by a distinct punk-meets-experimentalist sensibility.

While I Don't Remember Now is impossibly rare and the man behind the music remains shrouded in self-imposed mystery, the real surprise is that it has taken 35+ years for listeners to discover Bender's warm, art-damaged immediacy.

This first-time standalone reissue is recommended for fans of Pere Ubu, Brian Eno and Robert Ashley. Limited to 1,000 numbered copies. Red vinyl with hand-stamped jackets, each one unique. Liner notes by John Bender. Pre-order directly from Superior Viaduct here, listen to the album below.