“I have to say I was a bit surprised when I found out, but good on ‘em,” McLennan laughs. “But I don’t think we’ll be adapting our style – I don’t think The Meanies could ever be adaptive. There’s not a lot of movement in the parameters for The Meanies. We’ll just be sticking with what we do.” McLennan recalls the difficulties he encountered the last time The Meanies abrogated its effervescent live style for a special purpose: an early morning in-store gig a few years ago. “We did some early radio thing at about eight in the morning, I think it was The Lounge in the city,” McLennan says. “We did Buffalo Free and another song acoustic. It was combining all of these elements of life that I hate: getting up early, playing acoustic versions of punk rock songs and being sober. It makes for a difficult performance.”
It’s been a productive year for The Meanies. They released their first album in over a decade, packed their bags for Spain – including an appearance at the renowned Primavera Sound festival – and generally debunked any suggestion The Meanies were going to age gracefully.
This weekend The Meanies venture down the Calder Freeway to play Chopped music festival in Newstead in regional Victoria. Despite never having had a driver’s licence, McLennan appreciates a hotted up car, and a hotted up car festival is even better. “I’m not a car head but I love old cars – new cars look like dog shit,” McLennan says. “I love the shapes and the lines of old cars. Maybe I’ll put a white t-shirt on and drape myself over a car with a dripping sponge, with These Boots Are Made for Walking in the background,” he laughs.
Playing a hot rod festival in regional Victoria is a far cry from The Meanies’ sojourn to Spain earlier this year. The Meanies first ventured over to Spain in the early ‘90s, and have returned to the Iberian Peninsula on a number of occasions over the past 20-odd years. “We did 20 something shows in Spain over a month, in all corners of the country,” McLennan says. “The crowds were enthusiastic, we sold lots of records – it was great.” The Meanies scored a slot on Primavera Festival headlined by Brian Wilson. While McLennan was recovering from illness and missed much of the other bands on the festival, he did manage to see Venom, a band vivid in his distant rock’n’roll memories. “That was a bit of fun – took me back to my teenage black metal days,” McLennan laughs.
Regular, albeit infrequent, tours to Spain mean that The Meanies’ Spanish fan base remains steady. “You come across a lot of people who were there back in the early ‘90s who’re still coming along. We’ve managed to play there seven or eight times, so people do know us there,” McLennan says. But he concedes the declining economic fortunes of the country are evident, something that McLennan has in the back of his mind as he prepares to move across to Spain to live with his Spanish girlfriend. “Touring with Sun God [Replica] and The Meanies you get people saying that you’ve got to drop the price of your merchandise or else no one’s going to buy anything, the economy’s so bad,” McLennan says.
While he has recovered from the broken foot he sustained on The Meanies’ 25th anniversary tour a couple of years ago, he can’t promise that he won’t risk his body in the name of rock’n’roll. “I’m always accumulating new injuries,” McLennan says. “I had a big water sack on my knee after a Meanies tour, a couple of black eyes. Act your age Link, act your age. But I’m in denial – I’ve definitely got a Peter Pan complex,” McLennan says.
Finally, is it correct – as Meanies bass player and manager Wally Meanie has asserted – that The Meanies are still awesome? Absolutely, McLennan says. “In all modesty – or lack thereof – I think we are awesome,” he says. “The quality of shows we put on these days shit on the shows we did back in the day. There’s a little less blood, but there’s still stacks of energy. I think you can bloody well put us against anyone.”
BY PATRICK EMERY
