Glasgow Film Festival 2015: Revenge of The Mekons

Film Review by Lewis Porteous | 27 Feb 2015
Film title: Revenge of The Mekons
Director: Joe Angio
Starring: Vito Acconci, Fred Armisen, Rico Bell

After decades of sustained critical acclaim, The Mekons remain an obscure cult band with few commercial prospects. This is a grave injustice, and one which Joe Angio seemingly sought to rectify with his 2013 profile of the group. Unfortunately, theirs is far from an isolated case of music industry inequity. Countless other talents have failed to crack the big time, their stories all running along the same lines.

Curious audience members may find being exposed to The Mekons' music a pleasure, while existing fans will doubtless welcome the opportunity to contemplate the artists' ill-fated trajectory. Beyond the quality of the recordings featured, however, there’s little to recommend here as celebrity admirers line up to regurgitate praise for the relentlessly self-effacing group.

Lacking both a compelling narrative and a cast of truly interesting characters, Revenge of the Mekons is a surprisingly charmless exercise in rock ‘n’ roll hagiography.


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27 Feb, CCA Theatre, 1.30pm