Fear and Whiskey

Fear and Whiskey is a 1985 album by Mekons, which marked their return from a several-year hiatus. It is credited as being the first alternative country album, as it blends the bands previously-established punk rock style with a country & western sound. The album was initially released by Sin Records to significant critical praise and commercial success. However, due to Sin's small capacity for production and distribution, the album then remained largely unavailable until a rerelease in 2002 by the band's new label, Quarterstick Records, a subsidiary of Touch and Go Records.

The album's musical style represents a sharp break with the group's previous work, as fiddle, harmonica, and steel guitar are included, but the staple instrumentation of punk music is also notable, particularly on the energetic "Hard to be Human Again." Tom Greenhalgh, one of the primary creative forces in the Mekons, commented that as he listened to a great deal of country & western music in the early 80's, "pretty soon the difference between the three chords of country and the three chords of punk became blurred." ^[1] The album closes with a cover of country music icon Hank Williams' "Lost Highway."

The album's lyrics describe a dark scenario of a community struggling to retain its capacity for joy and companionship through a devastating war fought by outsiders. Rock critic Robert Christgau has described it as a concept album about life during wartime. ^[2] This setting allows the Mekons to express their anarchist sensibilities, which are quite at odds with the right-wing ideologies that had traditionally dominated modern country music.

[edit] Track listing

#	Song	Length	Credits
01	"Chivalry"	4:03	Mekons
02	"Trouble Down South"	4:15	Mekons
03	"Hard to Be Human Again"	3:58	Mekons
04	"Darkness and Doubt"	5:15	Mekons
05	"Psycho Cupid (Danceband on the Edge of Time)"	2:52	Mekons
06	"Flitcraft"	3:23	Mekons
07	"Country"	2:54	Mekons
08	"Abernant 1984/1985"	2:21	Mekons
09	"Last Dance"	3:13	Mekons
10	"Lost Highway"	3:13	Leon Payne