Personnel: Juan Stacey, John McInerney, John Neilson, Doug Simmons, Chris "Smitty" Smith, David Cohn, Jim Macnie, Matthew Hunter, Dennis Coleman, Jason Cohen, Alex Cohen, Lauren Mack, Stephen Berg, Matthew Klein, Ryan Douglass, Howard Klein, Megan Thomas, Joe Cohn, Sam Adams, John Frizell, Karen Brown, Mark Richards, Ben Schneider, Brian Parks , Mark Lerner, Alex Morrison, Mirabai Tony-Sweeney, Colonel Russell "Rex" Fott, Dennis & Lois, Adam Smashin, Charles David, Oliver W.Lewis, Chris D'anfrea, Amy Chosky, Joe Angio, Paul Lovelace, Jessica Wollson, Hebe Joy, Chelsea Mills, Gina Frary Bacon, Lauren Vonderhaar, Tyler Rose Mann, Mike Beachy, Susan Shepard, Shannon Manning, Leslie Gerhauser, Gregg Vonderhaar, Alison Orchant, Mitch Weinstein, Annie Polland, Michael Smrtic, Edward Bordas, Jean Callahan, Mary Callahan, Tom Ostoyich, Courtney Golden, Leah McManigle, Alex Pareene, Glenn Treffeison, Richard Weis, Kari Auerbach, Miry Park, Joe Hobaica, Neil Demause, Mindy Nass, Michele Topper, Therese Cox, Susan Campbell Beachy, Bob Gaul, Derek Caney, Joseph Ofalt, Anthony Moreno, Milo Maimone, Dorota Kolodziejczyk, Jason Duval, Holly Halvarson, Ben Giovino, Jane Rizzo, Jennifer Gryzioc, Tim Gehan, Tyreen Reuter, Jesse Hochstadt, Lauren Podis, Ally Millar, Josh Kantro, Deborah Wassertzug, Todd Pruzan, Jim Reuter, Rebecca Buck, Yves Beauvais, Bob Berger, Courtney Lee Adams Jr., Jen Watson.
Audio Mixer: Mike Hagler.
Recording information: Junkyard Studio, Newport; Kingsize Sound Labs, Chicago; University of South Wales, Cardiff.
"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
