KatJonBand: KatJonBand

Jon

Langford and Katrin Bornfeld (a.k.a. Kat Ex) have been friends and musical

compatriots for years, thanks to their shared roots in the '70s European

anarcho-art-punk scene as, respectively, leader and songwriter of Britain's The

Mekons and drummer for Dutch band The Ex. Their sporadic collaborations

solidified into a full-fledged project, KatJonBand, at an impromptu live show

in 2004, and the off-the-cuff energy continues on KatJonBand's self-titled

debut. Fans of Langford and Ex's main bands shouldn't be surprised or

displeased by what they come up with here, since the two already have so many

stylistic and philosophical points in common, including a thoughtful,

uncompromising left-wing outlook and an interest in augmenting punk's furious

howl with elements from traditional folk and world music. Though KatJonBand leaves some room for

languid relationships-on-the-rocks material like "Hey You Don't Love Me," the

album is at its best when the duo steps up the tempo and the ideological fire,

especially on the haunting "Bad Apples" and "Do You", which sums up the Iraq

war with the stinging refrain "you break it, you buy, your country, bye-bye."