Art and Film: Revenge of the casualists?

Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / Joe Angio’s winning rock documentary Revenge of the Mekons concerns a defiantly non-commercial punk-era British rock band that has kept going with core members who started out as art students at the University of Leeds, along with a rotating cast, for thirty years. The filmmakers lock into the louche verve of the Mekons – especially frontman Jon Langford and singer Sally Timms, who says, in her inimitably offhand way: “Success is the thing that usually kills bands in the end; we’ve had none of it.” Remaining a cult favorite and still loving the unremunerative thing that they do into their late fifties constitute their revenge.

(Image: One of Joe Langford's paintings grabbed off the Walker Art Center blog.)
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