''So Good It Hurts'' is an album by the British band

the Mekons The Mekons are a British Post-punk band formed in 1976 as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands. The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of co ...

, released in 1988. "Ghosts of American Astronauts" was released as a single. The band supported the album with a North American tour, as well as shows in England.

Production

The band added a reggae influence to the country sound of their mid-1980s albums. Eleven musicians contributed to the recording of ''So Good It Hurts''. As on previous albums, the band included text and footnotes, partly to inform, partly for ironic reasons. "(Sometimes I Feel Like) Fletcher Christian" is about the death of

Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was an English sailor who led the mutiny on the ''Bounty'' in 1789, during which he seized command of the Royal Navy vessel from Lieutenant William Bligh. In 1787, Christian was ap ...

. " Heart of Stone" is a cover of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

song, sung by

Sally Timms Sally Ann Timms (born 29 November 1959) is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Leeds, England, she now lives in the Chicago area, where she works as a paralegal.Lipez, Zachary.Mekons Finally Get Their Revenge: An Interview with Sally Timm ...

, who wasn't pleased with the completed track. "Vengeance" reminds listeners that the administrations of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

won't last forever. The title of "I'm Not Here (1967)" is a tribute to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. "Dora" was inspired in part by

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

case study A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular f ...

. "Robin Hood" posits that the outlaw had homosexual relationships with his

Merry Men The Merry Men are the group of Outlaw (stock character), outlaws who follow Robin Hood in English literature and folklore. The members of the group appear both collectively and individually in the earliest ballads about Robin Hood and remain ...

Critical reception

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' wrote that "the music is stirring in its imaginative off-handedness, the genres are never condescended to ... and the politics are stated forcefully, without apology or fence-straddling." '' The Gazette'' determined that "Mekons have developed—almost despite themselves—into a band of shambolic but astonishing musical and lyric depth."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

, noting the reggae influence, opined that "the skank that kicks things off is as lovable as anything they've ever done." The ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'' called the album "a sophisticated, stimulating roots record." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' deemed the album "a more polished, pop-friendly production." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' stated that "a relaxed, island-bopping rhythm has gently infiltrated the demented country 'n' western of the Mekons." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' concluded that "the music kicks along, and the band has developed a real sense of melody." The ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' likened the album to "the Clash's ''Sandinista'' without the filler."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that "the deep basslines of dub and the one-drop snap of the drums merely add another filter to the overall picture of distance and ambivalence, though it's worth noting that the Mekons take to reggae like ducks to water, and this is perhaps the tightest and best-focused album the group released in the 1980s." ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' dismissed ''So Good It Hurts'' as "bad-imitation BeauSoleil."

Track listing

References

{{The Mekons The Mekons albums 1988 albums Twin/Tone Records albums