Meat Puppets II

You seem tense. Are you scared, confused, angry? Are you sitting there wondering why Republican politicians are repeating the talking points of previous candidates for the Democratic nomination? Are you worried that your employer won't sell off their worst speculative investments to pay you for the work you've been doing? Are you not sure how this "grow plants and raise animals you can eat" thing works every spring?

You just need some perspective. I'll feed you, baby bird.

Meat Puppets. No no, not you. The band. Their second album, Meat Puppets II. You're not crazy. These guys are crazy. It's the Kirkwood brothers and a drummer, playing what could only be described as Cowpunk. I suppose you could warp the Venn diagram so that some of it  falls within the label Psychedelic Rock, but why? If you like the Oak Ridge Boys, you'll detest this (and vice-versa as my case may be).

Let's start with the cover. What the hell is that a painting of? The desert as a portal to hell. That's pretty obvious. They're from Arizona. It's got a twinge of Van Gogh, but it's predominantly the mash up of paint and drugs.

Is it good? Oh yes, it's phenomenal. I mean if you were a real OG, you'd be mad that it isn't unintelligible hardcore noise like their first album, but those people don't actually exist (sadly, they do). If you think singing should be mostly in tune, and guitar playing shouldn't be sloppy you'll find it hard to digest. Luckily, i have no interest in those things. What i love is pure, unadulterated creativity, and the nutritional value of this album is off the chart. I couldn't write anything like this if i tried for a thousand years, and you couldn't either. This is a 5-star album, 4 if you're in the "has to be 'produced'" camp. This is walk in off the street, do a couple takes and go home stuff.

If you don't know anything about them: cris and kurt were children of a legit millionaire, and formed a band. This is just what came out of their brains and fingers in 1984. Go ahead, try to play any of this stuff in a way that doesn't sound polished. You can't (just like their later albums, where they couldn't unlearn the better they got with practice; still great, but lacking the magic spark of being legitimately awkward and sloppy). My point is, this isn't an act, it's not a facade or a character, this is how they played/sang at the time. It's raw genius, without any concept of "popular" or "marketable" or "do we suck?" getting in the way.

You probably know that Kurt Cobain brought them out on stage to play three of the tracks from this album on Unplugged, and he did it because he genuinely loved them. How could you not love this album? No, really, tell me. The record industry is pretty horrible, but this exists. They still play shows. You can go buy a new copy and listen to it until the grooves wear out. Or, you can go listen to it on youtube or whatever. It will definitely change your perspective. Don't be a meat puppet, just listen to them for a change.

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