The autobiography in words and images of a legendary art-punk band’s early years.

Fueled by the DIY punk aesthetic, the Mekons emerged from the Leeds university art scene in 1977 with the firm belief that anybody could do it — so they did. Their first singles (“Never Been in a Riot” and “Where Were You?”) are now underground classics, and their 1979 debut album, The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen, widely derided as “amateurish” at the time, is about to receive the deluxe box set treatment from Fire Records.

Waiting at the Bar collects writing by various Mekons about their early years and first recordings along with around 100 photographs and flyers. It also features contributions from longtime musical comrades such as Jon King (Gang of Four), as well as filmmaker Adam Curtis, who put together for this book a documentary sequence of still images from the weeks in 1977 when the Mekons first took shape.