I have only a passing familiarity with their work and only own
The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll
and
I (Love) Mekons

Both are prettty freaking good.

But, in your opinion, which are their best albums?
Which should I buy next, if any?
What can I expect from each album, since their sound seems to have mutated over the years?

Tell me.

IMO you already own their most consistent album (Rock 'n' Roll), although my favorite Mekons song is "Last Night On Earth" (from Journey To The End Of The Night).

I find them to be a frustrating band, because they often hit such amazing highs but those highs are usually limited to strictly one per album. Jon Langford sings with the gruff, charismatic honesty of Joe Strummer - a tad more tuneful than St. Joe, truth be told - and Sally Timms' voice is gorgeous and clear. There isn't a note of bullshit between the two. And as a group they're unafraid to follow their creative impulses down even the most obvious cul-de-sacs. I'd say the Mekons mostly excel at the level of the workingman's vernacular (in other words, anything that's based in folk music, whether that means actual folk songs or rock'n'roll or punk or reggae), and they've subsequently become amazingly proficient at a mellow sort of punk/folk/reggae hybrid - of course, being the Mekons (meaning a democratic collective of steadfastly anti-commercial artists), they're not going to chain themselves to a sound that they happen to be good at when there's so many other genres out there to fuck with. Trouble is, while I find some of their genre collisions interesting, I don't necessarily find them all that listenable.

Someone should put together a series of Mekons best-of's - the Mekons best rock 'n' roll, the Mekons best folk, the Mekons best dance experiments, the Mekons best whatever - and then there'll be a Mekons album for every household.

Todd, Happy New Year.

I would reccomend.

Curse of The Mekons
Fear and Whiskey

And OOOH (Out Of Our Heads)

I recently got the Heaven and Hell comp and, despite a few less than stellar moments, overall really dug it and was about to ask this same question (when the budget was such that 2005 buying could commence).

Fear and Whiskey

Great stuff. More country influence than Rock n' Roll so it's a bit different, but a fine, fine record.

I'd stay away from the self-titled and I was a bit disappointed with Punk Rock, but it's certainly not bad.

I'm a bit late seeing this one.

One of my favorite bands. Their pre 1985 stuff can be hard to find and is really inconsistent even for them.

Fear & Whiskey and Edge of the World are the best of their psycho country era.

Rock & Roll is considered their best, but, Curse is not far behind.

I Love Mekons is terrific too.

Steve

Wasn't it Whiney or tom who loved The Mekons? Or is it The Melvins?