"Why should it take longer to record an album than it does to listen to it?" You can't deny that
the Mekons know how to ask interesting questions, and they provide their own equally fascinating answer with 2017's
Existentialism. While it was recorded in front of a live audience at a performance space in Brooklyn, New York's Red Hook district,
Existentialism walks a line between documenting a concert performance and manipulating the circumstances into something quite different. With the massed vocals of the audience making them participants in the recording process, as well as the frequent use of dubwise audio manipulation to alter the color and shape of the performances as they happen,
Existentialism is less a document of
the Mekons playing a set for their fans than an art project that uses the presence of the spectators as another ingredient in their formula.
The Mekons are one of the very few bands with both the smarts and the ambition to make something like this work, and it's fortunate that they also have the wit to do so without becoming pretentious about it. The lo-fi recording (most of this was put on tape using a single microphone) and stripped-down arrangements of
Existentialism make the results sound suitably humble, reflecting the contemplative tone of
Natural and
Ancient & Modern rather than the rabble-rousing of their earliest work.
The Mekons have in no way retreated from pointed social and political critique in the era of
Trump and Brexit, as a quick scan of the lyrics will easily confirm, but
Existentialism sounds more like a meeting of ranters who have gathered on the corner to mount a soapbox and share their thoughts with anyone willing to listen. In the best ranting tradition,
the Mekons have something witty, intelligent, and pertinent to say, and this real-time recording project shows they continue to have a worthy way of saying it as well. ~ Mark Deming
