5 Ways The Mekons Blended Reggae and Dub Into Country Rock
- They added reggae rhythms to their country rock foundation, creating a hybrid sound that stood out in the mid-1980s.
- Dub production techniques, like heavy reverb and echo, were layered over their folk-rock and zydeco influences.
- The band mixed hard-charging rock with reggae’s offbeat guitar skanks, giving their songs a lopsided groove.
- Their albums from this period often swapped pedal steel for dub’s cavernous basslines and sparse drum patterns.
- This fusion worked because they treated reggae and dub as natural extensions of country’s storytelling, not gimmicks.