Jon Langford

It's not that unusual for a jazz musician such as Charlie Haden or David Murray to juggle several distinct groups over extended periods of time, but no one in rock has done it more dexterously than Mekons' founder Jon Langford. While Langford has continued to record with the Mekons since 1979, he recorded a dozen albums with the Three Johns in the '80s, and since then has spun out groups such as the Killer Shrews, the Waco Brothers, and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts. His solo album Skull Orchard provides a sort of baseline to what Langford brings to his groups: rock & roll that takes simplicity as a virtue, and sharp wordplay that cuts no slack for cliche.

Mayors of the Moon puts Langford in front of a Canadian alt-country group called the Sadies, shaping up a tight set of songs that plays like a slightly lighter version of the Waco Brothers.

All the Fame of Lofty Deeds finds Langford playing a populist ramblin' man, turning out wiseass ditties that sound upbeat and plenty tuneful even when he's going on about lyin' in a cold, dark grave and how there's nothing more perfect than a perfect crime.

The Pine Valley Cosmonauts are another Jon Langford project, where various sets of Waco Brothers and Waco Cousins get together to form left-wing country's foremost backing band. The two tribute albums differ in that the Cash set is sung by Langford only with a teeth-grinding grimness, while the Wills set is pure celebration, rotating standards through guest vocalists (most notably Jimmie Dale Gilmore).

In Beneath the Country Underdog, the Cosmonauts play backing band for Kelly Hogan, while The Executioner's Last Songs is a benefit for the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project, with guest vocalists taking turns at songs of death, murder, and executions, not that it makes all that much difference. Vol. 1 sets the course; Vol. 2 & 3 piles on more of the same, recycling a few songs for alternate singers. (TOM HULL)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide