Personnel: Jon Langford (vocals, guitar); Jane Baxter-Miller, Edith Frost, John Hyatt, Lu Edmonds, Dean Schlabowske (vocals); Carlton B. Morgan (spoken vocals, harmonica); Mark Price, Zak Price (spoken vocals); Tracey Dear (mandolin); Tom Ray (ukulele); John Rice (fiddle); Rico Bell (accordion); Paul Mertens (alto flute, baritone saxophone, brass); Wally Ma (brass); Fred Armisen (percussion).
The Skull Orchard: Alan Doughty (vocals, bass); Marc Durante (guitar, 12-string guitar); Steve Goulding (drums).
Recorded at Kingsize Sound Laboratories, Chicago, Illinois in August 1997.
John Langford's solo outing, 1998's SKULL ORCHARD, is a bold, brash, and accessible collection of country and roots songs from one of the co-founders of the Mekons. The Welsh-born Langford, who fronts the Mekons, Waco Brothers, Pine Valley Cosmonauts, and various other country- and roots-inflected rock & roll bands, recorded these 15 songs in Chicago with a pared-down version of the Waco Brothers line-up.
SKULL ORCHARD features Langford's sly cover art, and is a rough mix of hard-hitting bar rockers ("Trapdoor" and "I Am the Law") and soaring, powerful ballads ("Penny Arcades"), with the slinky R&B groove of "Deep Sea Diver" thrown in for good measure. Always political, but never preachy, SKULL ORCHARD reveals Langford's dismay and bitterness over the economic decline of his native land and the collapse of socialism among the working class. SKULL ORCHARD is less twang-filled than Langford's work with the Waco Brothers and more conventional than much of the Mekons' oeuvre, though it's often compared favorably with that band's gem, RETREAT FROM MEMPHIS. SKULL ORCHARD is a must for any Mekon fan, and is also an excellent introduction for newcomers to Langford's prodigious and powerful musicianship.
