Meat Puppets S/D, C or D

Still stoked from my experience last night. They covered "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights."
So cool.

New Album ‘Lollipop’ (Megaforce) Released May 2nd

It doesn't take long after listening to the Meat Puppets' thirteenth studio album overall, Lollipop, to realize that they have boiled the essence of what the group is all about right down to its core. As a result, singer/guitarist Curt Kirkwood, bassist Cris Kirkwood, and drummer Shandon Sahm have an instant Meat Puppets classic on their hands, and an album that fits in perfectly with such mid '80s classics as Up on the Sun and the underrated Mirage (while not coming off as an attempt to recreate a certain musical era of the group). Interestingly however, the Meat Puppets did not achieve this by working out the songs' arrangements beforehand, or even extensively rehearsing together.

"This one here was an experiment in just viewing the parts as Tinkertoys, and seeing the little Tinkertoy circus that needed to be built, and putting it together simply like that," explains Curt. "With just the band in the studio and the engineer, we didn't learn the songs - we just went in the studio, and went, 'OK, here's your part. Now play this good.' So we cut the stuff on acoustic guitar and drums first, and then built it. It's an interesting concept of a way to do something. It seems like it might be a stiff way to do something, by just putting it together a piece at a time like that. But I really enjoyed it. I think the overall sound of the way it came out is kind of a contradiction of the way it was recorded. To me, that's the coolest thing - to put something together like that, so you have the sum of the parts, and then the whole. The whole thing about the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. To force yourself to do it that way. We were able to keep track of the music."

Produced once more by Curt, Lollipop signals the re-entry of former Puppets drummer Sahm back into the band (who previously played on the 2000 Puppets release, Golden Lies, and supporting tour). Sahm elaborates: "In October [2009], Curt called. I said, 'Aren't you supposed to be out on tour with the Stone Temple Pilots? What's up?' He said, 'Do you want to fill in and do these dates?' We only had one day to practice. That was the icebreaker. The first show was in Mobile, Alabama at BayFest. It was probably 5,000 to 10,000 people. Right afterwards, Robert and Dean DeLeo came up and said, 'You're really great in the band. You really drive the band cool. You should be in there.' And I was like, 'Well, I'm filling in for right now. It would be cool...talk to 'the boss'.' Robert goes, 'I'll talk to him.'

Recorded at Spoon’s HiFi Studio’s in Austin, Lollipop is chock full of tunes that run the stylistic gamut. Case in point, the opening keyboard-laced "Incomplete" (that Curt wrote back in 1983, and envisioned as "something that I thought would be good for Elvis or Engelbert Humperdinck in the '60s") and the rocking "Hour of the Idiot," to the sunny ska of "Shave It," and such acoustic country ditties as "Baby Don't" and "The Spider and the Spaceship." And Cris certainly approves of the finished product. "The continuity that runs through Curt's work is just a trip, and how you can reference different parts. I think it's a fairly bitching effort, considering the amount of time we put into pre-work. I think it's indicative of where the band's at right now. It's a fairly fluid moment, and that's a trip, considering how long we've been at it and the band's history. Curt's been at it non-stop, and I'm pleased to be able to provide him with a stable outlet for his art."

And according to Curt, the band got back to trusting their instincts once more - a major catalyst in their earlier work. "The similarity between the '80s and now is that once we started getting a lot of attention in the '90s, we brought producers in and stuff, and there was a thing that started happening - and it might sound egotistical - but this band always ran off of my intuitions. As much as songwriting or anything else. I write intuitively, and I never wanted to be a songwriter - I just got into it when I had the band. I just wanted to be in a band. So it's all been this intuition of 'This is what we need to do.' This was kind of taken away from us in the '90s, as money came in and people said, 'You need to do this.' It clouded the whole easygoing...like, 'Well, what does Curt think?' You could say it was the money or it was the thrust of popularity stuff or the Nirvana thing. But it just was like the band as a whole quit trusting that, I think. We just became more compliant, and like they say, 'Cooperation leads to corruption.' So in this way, I think the album harkens back to that."

How do we feel about Too High to Die these days?

it's a pretty bad album in comparison to their best stuff, but it's still leagues better than a lot of other major label rock albs of its era (especially by '80s hardcore bands gone fully alt). so we'll call it a draw.

I'd never heard it beyond "Backwater" and "Things." Good tunes but after three listens I find it hard to settle on other tunes.

like if this was a "taking sides: too high to die vs. god of love" i know what i'd pick.

I really like THtD! It's the best at getting acceptable vocals out of Kurt, with good arrangements, if not their best songs. Good songs though. Severed Goddess Hand is one of those phrases that keeps repeating in my head at the oddest time. But the whole first side in particular flows beautifully.

"Violet Eyes."

Creator, for that scrambling guitar, the languid matter of fact vocal delivery, and the line
"Some say openly, I don't know. Some build eleavators"

five year later, this still sounds gorgeous and amazing to me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIFx2_Se8R8

I agree. Great tune. I hadn't heard it before.

New podcast interview with Cris Kirkwood

https://soundcloud.com/theair-raidpodcast/air-raidnet-episode-263-meat-puppets

Here 15 golden greats.

Great list! I'd have had Light and Like Being Alive from Monsters in there I think.

Saw them several times, first at this show in Bloomfield NJ, summer of '85. I don't remember Derrick Bostrom looking this friggin' hot:

https://pooneilblog.wordpress.com/tag/the-jetty/

Springsteen was playing a Born in the USA show a few miles away, so during their encore someone (in a crowd of maybe 30) yelled "Bruce." So they did a loud, fast version of "Dancing in the Dark."

was just listening to Up On The Sun last night, it sounded great.

I think I'd add a few more of the 1st lp tracks as my favourites but that list isn't bad.

love the demo tracks included in the 'up on the sun' reissue, some of it is the most stoned sounding music I can think of

UotS still and forever in my top 5 rock records

This is one of those bands where Cobain farted in their general direction once, so YouTube comments for their songs are full of stuff like: “KURT’S FAVORITE BAND!!”; “KURDT HAD GOOD TASTE, MAN”; etc.

It used to be the cool thing was not telegraphing that you learned about something that way, lol

Haven't seen the Meat Puppets play in years, but they sound really good on some of the semi-recent video clips online for radio sessions.

They were doing some shows with Mike Watt and someone else pretty good from the old SST scene out on the west coast recently too.

xxp Meat Pups covers and participation on Nirvana's Unplugged show add up to more than farting in their general direction: more like meaty-aromatic otm. Repost of the review-interview I did for long gone Paper Thin Walls in '07, had a really nice conversation (they were in a Texas truckstop, I was on the phone):
https://papercomet.blogspot.com/2017/03/meat-puppets.html

Derrick Bostrom is back in the band, it seems???

great news!

Seriously great/immediate new song (with Bostrom on drums I guess?). Hits all their best note-vibes; you can ride this one a long way out into the desert. (Trust me on that: I live there, haha) I never would've expected them to regain their particular stride, but here it is

https://youtu.be/-gny-gp8J9A

Wow that's pretty good!

There’s a recent set on archive.org with the bostrom on drums new guy on keys lineup and it’s really cool. Hear what the keys element is doing on Seal Whales - super interesting. It’s like the keys are taking up some of those chiming pinging Curt overdubs from the studio recording.

Here's the URL for that show: https://archive.org/details/mp2018-11-24

Elvis, thank you, I'd figured that was the one to download. I shoulda gone to that show, it's in the neighborhood — had no idea Bostrom was back in the mix. This song is so good I'm figuring I need to work thru their last coupla albumss.

Hope we see a new full length and I would be super delighted if the current five piece w bostrom came northeast. Pups are so deep in my blood.

There is a new full length, it's out in March! The song in the video linked above is on it.

fuuck yeahhh

* Everything * about this 1985 local TV in-studio appearance (even the limo commercial) is so damn adorable. Amazing treasure moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKMtKD-aw1I

Thanks for that loveable live video!

This is, word-for-word, line-for-line, story-for-story, joke-for-joke one of the best music interviews I've come across in a while. Meat Puppets, 2007.

https://music.avclub.com/meat-puppets-1798212463

I don’t know how long it’s been up but it looks like their full discography is now streaming, save the Out My Way EP I think.

So glad I opened this thread and discovered that video of them.

They should add Out My Way, it rules

yes that video up there is magical xp

From my Nashville Scene ballot comments on 2019 releases:
...those Dusty Notes come flying, and the dust doesn't come off, but they're still somehow plenty shiny, in this heavy jangle drone rock with country crosscurrents at the right times--incl. Floyd Crameresque sparkling piano waters, never abusing their spotlight comp time---the possibly Buddhist truck-driving man seemingly tells everything he sees, while, like the song says, "Lookin' at the world through a windshield," and vice-versa: for instance,"The Great Awakening" did even more to this land than for it, making for a real nice theme song in my mind, as he sings through it and all else, not scurred of those In Through The Out Door-reinforced juxtapositions, or that yowling tom cat guitar tail under---has he got a rocking chair in there? Rock the nation, big 'un, rolling through suggestions of Grateful Dead karma ballads too, in a poise I can only envy----Serenity Now!

Also once again: anybody who likes Curt will prob enjoy this long-ish truckstop conversation (following a brief review of Rise To Your Knees)--originally from 2007 Paper Thin Walls:
https://papercomet.blogspot.com/2017/03/meat-puppets.html

discography is now streaming

...through my head, anytime the sun is out? been that way forever

Wherearetheystreamingwherearetheystreamingwherearetheystreaming----Spotify? Don't see 'em on bandcamp, alas.

That tv show appearance is amazing

i'd never heard this until recently cos i never bought the ryko reissues but i'm super-into this weird demo version of 'hot pink' off the expanded Up On The Sun. Glockenspiel melody line, weird echoey percussive noises, a dubby bassline going wubba-wubba the whole time, and just a general feeling of falling through a dream backwards. it's kind of like they'd been listening to husker du and thought it would be neat to fuse 'the baby song' with 'reoccurring dreams'. are there any other pups tracks out there that are like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9SSELVxdvY

Pretty sure that demo predates “The Baby Song” by a year, at least; it might be the other way round.

oh i'm sure that was the case, wasn't a serious hypothesis i was putting forward there. just that childlike instrumentation and melody brought it to mind

If I recall correctly, they mention in the Ryko liner notes something about that demo being their original vision for Up on the Sun – something like Pet Sounds.

They apparently stuck themselves playing Sloop John B way too frequently in later years. At least according to the complaints of somebody I knew who followed them for years.

They were the kings of tacky cover versions, first time I saw them play they busked through 'A White Sports Coat & A Pink Carnation', like some sort of wedding band, it might have been their opening song too iirc?