― James Blount (James Blount), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 03:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
― earlnash, Wednesday, 20 November 2002 04:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
Is II a lot better?
― mei (mei), Monday, 24 March 2003 15:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 24 March 2003 15:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dadaismus, Monday, 24 March 2003 15:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
― mei (mei), Monday, 24 March 2003 16:06 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 24 March 2003 16:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Bryan (Bryan), Monday, 24 March 2003 16:33 (twenty-one years ago) link
In defense of their self titled album, I think it is a wonderful artifact for numerous reasons. It has that specific thin and dirty Spot-produced early SST sound which I find nostalgic. To my knowledge, it is one of the first and best infusions of psychedelia with American hardcore/punk. The singing is primitive yet pure, and the intuitive playing which holds the songs together is inspired. The changes in dynamics, texture, time, and color are often subtle yet always instantaneous and lend the songs a surprising cohesion despite their loose 'improvised' structures. The affect is simultaneously drug-addled and innocent. It is difficult not to anthropomorphize the record itself which seems so weirdly full of joy, fear, and humor.
Most people I know dismiss their 7" and first album as demented experimentation, but there is a resonance to these records should you choose to explore them a little deeper. II is my favorite partly because of the songwriting, and more so because of the performances which create a lot of ambient space without adding a superfluous tone or note.
Live in Montana is amusing, but I also find it longwinded and at times, incredibly annoying. Whenever they cop the Grateful Dead or "get funky," I'm not sure how to react.
― Ryan McKay (Ryan McKay), Monday, 24 March 2003 22:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 18:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― rex jr., Wednesday, 26 March 2003 19:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 19:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
I wz listening to 'up on the sun' late last night and several things struck me - how there aren't any riffs, its composed of all these guitar runs, all continuous and sunny (if minor chords are sad ones then are these major chords? I don't know...). The singing is very different to that on 'II', he sounds more drunk instead of nervous. I think there are also some treated guitar effects that appear, albeit briefly, on some of the tracks and the lyrics are pretty great too...can't remember the words jumping out of the CD booklet since 'trout mask replica', all those years ago.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 2 October 2004 10:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― mzui, Saturday, 2 October 2004 12:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― strng hlkngtn, Sunday, 1 May 2005 01:22 (eighteen years ago) link
― strng hlkngtn, Sunday, 1 May 2005 01:24 (eighteen years ago) link
― christhamrin (christhamrin), Sunday, 1 May 2005 03:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― latebloomer: But when the monkey die, people gonna cry. (latebloomer), Sunday, 1 May 2005 05:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Sunday, 1 May 2005 05:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― charleston charge (chaki), Sunday, 1 May 2005 08:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― Fastnbulbous (Fastnbulbous), Thursday, 29 September 2005 04:06 (eighteen years ago) link
This is a Rolling Stones cover. I'm not sure if you meant that the song predated the 90s slacker or the 70s slacker.
II is a classic album. It is awesome and captures something that for me, is beyond words. It has a beauty that few albums have. Up On the Sun, on the other hand-- well, I just don't get that record. I know everyone raves about it, but I don't think it's near as good as II. It seems a lot more of a conscious effort or something... still decent, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first MP purchase.
― richard wood johnson, Thursday, 29 September 2005 04:17 (eighteen years ago) link
UP ON THE SUN = SERIOUSLY ONE OF THE BEST ALBUMS EVER
― poortheatre (poortheatre), Thursday, 29 September 2005 04:22 (eighteen years ago) link
― richard wood johnson, Thursday, 29 September 2005 04:29 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 05:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― howell huser (chaki), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 06:15 (eighteen years ago) link
― howell huser (chaki), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 06:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― poortheatre (poortheatre), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 06:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 06:22 (eighteen years ago) link
The best songs on II are the instrumentals, anyway!
― Keith C (lync0), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:20 (eighteen years ago) link
classic, by the way.
― latebloomer: Deutsch Bag (latebloomer), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:29 (eighteen years ago) link
― ZR (teenagequiet), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 15:00 (eighteen years ago) link
― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 15:22 (eighteen years ago) link
CLASIC CLASSIC ! !
― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― stingewell, Tuesday, 24 January 2006 14:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 16:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alex in Baltimore (Alex in Baltimore), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 16:14 (eighteen years ago) link
'I`ve got the album written already. I`m going to record it on my own and then see who wants to put it out,' Curt Kirkwood tells Billboard.com. 'It`s epic. It`s big Meat Puppets stuff. I would say `sonic pyramids made out of garbage.` I honestly think these are good songs. I played some of them for [Cris] over the phone yesterday. I don`t think this is going to be some sort of `toss off` album.'
Song titles include 'Enemy Love Song,' 'I`m Not You' and 'New Leaf.'
Cris Kirkwood`s tumultuous last 10 years have been well documented. A heroin addiction led to the bassist getting into a violent altercation with a security guard, getting shot and subsequently serving 18 months in prison. The Puppets released one album without him, 2000`s 'Golden Lies,' before folding.
'I haven`t seen my brother since like 1998, but I`m talking to him a lot,' Curt says. 'He`s [been] clean for more than two years and he`s all raring to go. Cris` resurrection is no less than miraculous - it`s like a Lazarus-type thing. I was just like, `If Cris is back, I know his frame of mind.` If he`s upright and walking, it`s hard to knock him down.'
Although he was asked to participate, original Meat Puppets drummer Derrick Bostrom will not be involved in the reunion. Primus drummer Tim Alexander will replace him behind the kit.
The plan for the Kirkwoods and Alexander is to record the album and then hit the road. 'The fact that I don`t have a contract is actually better, because I don`t need to hear anybody else`s opinion about the Meat Puppets at this point in my life,' Curt says. 'It`s fun to see where this will fit in, in this present state of the business.'
― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 05:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― Marmotdeth (marmotwolof), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 05:50 (seventeen years ago) link
Anybody else have the new album? Looks like Tim Alexander didn't make it to the recording stage -- it's some guy named Ted Marcus. I'm definitely digging it. Pretty mellow compared to the other stuff I have (II, Monsters, Forbidden Places), but it's good to chill out to. "Light the Fire", the closing track, is pretty awesome.
― Jeff Treppel, Friday, 16 November 2007 04:04 (sixteen years ago) link
I like it, and especially "Disappear," that'll be in my Jackin' Pop and Pazz & Jop Top Tens. Curt interview (and song/album review, with song download/stream) here: http://www.paperthinwalls.com/singlefile/item?id=802
― dow, Friday, 16 November 2007 17:32 (sixteen years ago) link
the album sounded pretty bad on the first couple listens, not as bad as Golden Lies or anything, but I was hoping it would be at least as good as the new Dinosaur Jr. album. some of the songs have started to sound better when the come up on shuffle, though.
― Alex in Baltimore, Friday, 16 November 2007 17:35 (sixteen years ago) link
They played here in Missouri on Wednesday night. I considered going, I actually sort of mentally grappled with myself over it. I ended up having a ten to midnight radio shift that night, so I couldn't go anyway. I think it was probably a severely underattended show. Haven't heard the new album, don't have much time for anything beyond their first three records.
― Trip Maker, Friday, 16 November 2007 17:38 (sixteen years ago) link
Huevos rules
― Bill Magill, Friday, 16 November 2007 18:09 (sixteen years ago) link
I made it out to the Meat Puppets show in St. Louis last week. Some of the energy you'd expect was missing, maybe due to technical problems and a less-than-enthusiastic crowd. And this asshole who kept doing line-dance steps whenever they'd play anything even remotely country.
Still, Curt let the licks flow like wine and Chris was very much alive.
― s. morris, Friday, 16 November 2007 18:18 (sixteen years ago) link
I tried to listen to the new record...I really did but, I found it so lackluster at the half-way point I couldn't carry on. I would rather not have their later stuff sully the pleasure I find in II and Upon the Sun (and most of Huevos)
― kwhitehead, Friday, 16 November 2007 18:31 (sixteen years ago) link
The last three tracks on the new one are pretty great. They're all about fire, which is an old meat puppets trope. "The Ship" has this cool shimmery quality to it, "Ice" sounds like a slow dance on the deck of the Titanic, and "Light the Fire" has this great Middle Eastern groove to it. The album is pretty low key -- it feels like a more mature Meat Puppets, which sort of defeats the point of the band in the first place.
― Jeff Treppel, Friday, 16 November 2007 22:01 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm going to get it eventually, but I'm not too pushed about it right now. It's more of a continuation from where they left off in '95 than a 'return to form'; when I remind myself that they're never going to do an Up On The Sun again, it doesn't seem so disappointing to me (even if Curt's recent solo album, Snow, sounded better to me from the little bit of it I've heard).
― MacDara, Friday, 16 November 2007 22:33 (sixteen years ago) link
What's this all about then?
― Ich Ber ein Binliner (Tom D.), Thursday, 4 December 2008 10:42 (fifteen years ago) link
I know there's a bit of retrospective kindness for Spot's engineering, but he's a blight to a lot of those records.
― Maresn3st, Tuesday, 1 February 2022 22:15 (two years ago) link
A vast back catalogue funded by non-payment of royalties to the handful of bands on the label that sold anything!
― The White Hot Stamper With Issues (Matt #2), Tuesday, 1 February 2022 22:36 (two years ago) link
I heard the Rykodisc remasters had to be mastered from SST's own CD's because the master tapes were (and still) MIA - is that true?
Anyway, the kindest and more hilarious spin I've seen on SST's practices is that it's kind of like a Bailey Saving & Loan. You know, from It's a Wonderful Life: "Your money's not here Bob. It's in the Meat Puppets new album and Black Flag's next album..."
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 00:23 (two years ago) link
Or rather Bailey Building and Loan...been too long since I've seen the movie.
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 00:25 (two years ago) link
Now I need to get the rest of the Monitor lp.Monitor lp is excellent west coast art damage Agree that mirage, 3 way tie, flip your wig, loose nut all have an unfortunate neither fish nor fowl sound to them Up on the sun sounds perfect though in its kinda slickness
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 01:47 (two years ago) link
I heard the Rykodisc remasters had to be mastered from SST’s own CD’s because the master tapes were (and still) MIA - is that true?
I don’t know about those, but that has been the case for others: The Dicks’ Kill From the Heart reissue on Alternative Tentacles was mastered from the (deleted) vinyl.
― wronger than 100 geir posts (MacDara), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 11:52 (two years ago) link
are there any bands that cite Up On The Sun as a major influence. JUst wondering what is in the same ballpark that might have grown out of it. May have some influence from 74ish Grateful Dead I know they have mentioned that band among their own influences. But something about the bubbling bounciness in the sound from that year I'm being reminded of by listening to Up On The Sun.
― Stevolende, Monday, 7 February 2022 17:02 (two years ago) link
I can only name precedents (first two talking heads records, some bits of murmur) but no real inheritors. Would love to hear about any as my love for this album is boundless
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Monday, 7 February 2022 19:17 (two years ago) link
maybe fIREHOSE?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygiVIEzejVQ
― kurt schwitterz, Monday, 7 February 2022 20:24 (two years ago) link
maybe these guys? sort of like mid-period meat puppets transplanted to the grey fog of the pacific NW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1d3yZOYYwo
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Monday, 7 February 2022 20:41 (two years ago) link
june tour dates canceled :(
https://www.themeatpuppets.net/news
― budo jeru, Saturday, 18 June 2022 23:38 (one year ago) link
I’ve been trying to figure out if maybe it’s not worth the gas to drive across the country to play six small shows because they’ve been playing other shows lately and it’s not like Covid is getting more serious really
― zacata, Sunday, 19 June 2022 00:56 (one year ago) link
That may be what Dr. Fauci thought. Def what some people I know thought 'til recently.
― dow, Sunday, 19 June 2022 01:20 (one year ago) link
(Fauci tested pos recently.)
Their gig in my town was not even on my radar. And now it’s cancelled.
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Sunday, 19 June 2022 02:12 (one year ago) link
so bummed, but then again i got covid a couple weeks ago, so i get it
― global tetrahedron, Sunday, 19 June 2022 14:05 (one year ago) link
I'd like to see them now, especially in a good club, if nothing else comparison. They are a band I saw a couple times as a kid, it would just be cool to see them now. It never lined up, but I would have loved to see some of the Jesus Lizard shows for that reason. I saw them twice once right after I turned 21 in Bloomington in '91 and a second time a few years later as the opening act for Primus at this cow barn at the Indiana State Fair. Horrible sound and the Puppets did not go over well. The first show was at a good club and they were so tight a band. You can tell the Meat Puppets had played together for a LONG time, just tight.
Minutemen/fIREHOSE was on a similar type of funk groove at points. Ed's tunes have a folky bounce, which is something the Meat Puppets do a lot.
― The Artist formerly known as Earlnash, Sunday, 19 June 2022 22:45 (one year ago) link
been reading the SST "Corporate Rock Sucks" history and while i've never heard it, the passage about Monsters made it an immediate must hear:
The Meat Puppets also wanted out. After the release of Huevos and Mirage in 1987, the band was worn down from so many years on the road and more than a little discouraged to see bands like Soundgarden blowing up on MTV. The Meat Puppets recorded its next record, Monsters (SST 253), with the intention of getting off of SST and onto a major label. "So we went with the big, ugly-sounding reverb and electronic drums, and the big anthemic chorus crap," Bostrom said. Monsters is a Frankenstein-esque fusion of over-the-top riffs, tinny drums, and prog-country crooning- like ZZ Topp on acid.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 21 March 2024 19:28 (four weeks ago) link
“ZZ Topp”(?)
― let’s get intertwined (morrisp), Thursday, 21 March 2024 19:29 (four weeks ago) link
collect your prize for catching a typo in the book!
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 21 March 2024 19:34 (four weeks ago) link
Haven't listened to it since it came out but Attacked By Monsters and Touchdown King were my favourite things on it
― Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Thursday, 21 March 2024 20:04 (four weeks ago) link
So does London count as a major label (i.e. did it work)?
― let’s get intertwined (morrisp), Thursday, 21 March 2024 20:14 (four weeks ago) link
Monsters was my first Pups record and it's not as terrible as people might think, it has these two lovely tracks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI-zD4Z5ZWkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYILrial4lQ
― Maresn3st, Thursday, 21 March 2024 21:37 (four weeks ago) link
I just listened to Monsters the day before yesterday by coincidence. I recalled “TD King” and “Light” being the only highlights but there’s actually a bunch of good shit on there and the drums are nbd
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Friday, 22 March 2024 05:45 (three weeks ago) link
xp "This video is not available"
can you name what the tracks are please?
― budo jeru, Friday, 22 March 2024 13:58 (three weeks ago) link
'Light' and 'Like Being Alive'
― Maresn3st, Friday, 22 March 2024 21:03 (three weeks ago) link
for a yank curt plays the smoothest frippertronic licks this side of adrian belew
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 22 March 2024 21:08 (three weeks ago) link
I’m waiting on the post to bring me ’90s SST pressings of Monsters and Mirage in the next few days. I like Monsters more than Forbidden Places tbh; it doesn’t sound as good but the songs are great and it feels leaner in a good way.
― wronger than 100 geir posts (MacDara), Friday, 22 March 2024 21:14 (three weeks ago) link
xps thanks!
― budo jeru, Friday, 22 March 2024 22:01 (three weeks ago) link
I think I agree with you now xp re monsters v forbidden places. I certainly would not have a year ago.
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 23 March 2024 04:28 (three weeks ago) link
I don’t blame them, I mean you’re on a major (kind of) so go big or go home, right? But it feels longer, even though it’s actually a few minutes shorter.
― wronger than 100 geir posts (MacDara), Saturday, 23 March 2024 16:42 (three weeks ago) link
And “this day”, “whirlpool” and “open wide” do rule
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 23 March 2024 18:38 (three weeks ago) link
I love "Whirlpool" so much. Kinda feels like it's a few floors higher on the "Creator" elevator, now running for free.
― soup of magpies (geoffreyess), Monday, 25 March 2024 00:05 (three weeks ago) link
Agreed on “Whirlpool”, it’s like the essence of the band’s whimsical, mystical sides.
By the way, Pitchfork covered Meat Puppets II for their Sunday Review: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/meat-puppets-meat-puppets-ii/
(I did not know that story about Curt and the plane crash, or maybe I did and forgot it.)
― wronger than 100 geir posts (MacDara), Monday, 25 March 2024 13:02 (three weeks ago) link
Was listening again to their absolutely frazzled appearance on SNAP in the late 80s, poor Deirdre, trying to get any kind of interview out of them, but I feel that the version of the Peggy Lee tune Pass Me By might be the apex of their screwball cover songs tradition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUgqoEDZrco
― Maresn3st, Monday, 25 March 2024 13:09 (three weeks ago) link
Thanks for that II piece, I never would have noticed that. I didn’t know that plane crash story either. I think bostrom is a little too hard on the post-UotS albums. No, they aren’t on that level* but they’re way too joyful to be thought of as slogging *well, about half of out my way IS on that level
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Monday, 25 March 2024 18:25 (three weeks ago) link
Been revisiting Up on the Sun lately and its been lovely. Feels like a pretty big shift from II but it works so well. The guitar playing is out of this world. I thought they were for sure a 4 piece until I saw a public access youtube video of them playing "Swimming Ground"
― gman59, Monday, 25 March 2024 18:51 (three weeks ago) link