Meat Puppets S/D, C or D

so bummed, but then again i got covid a couple weeks ago, so i get it

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.

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.

“ZZ Topp”(?)

collect your prize for catching a typo in the book!

Haven't listened to it since it came out but Attacked By Monsters and Touchdown King were my favourite things on it

So does London count as a major label (i.e. did it work)?

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-zD4Z5ZWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYILrial4lQ

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

xp "This video is not available"

can you name what the tracks are please?

'Light' and 'Like Being Alive'

for a yank curt plays the smoothest frippertronic licks this side of adrian belew

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.

xps thanks!

I think I agree with you now xp re monsters v forbidden places. I certainly would not have a year ago.

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.

And “this day”, “whirlpool” and “open wide” do rule

I love "Whirlpool" so much. Kinda feels like it's a few floors higher on the "Creator" elevator, now running for free.

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.)

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

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

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"