Meat Puppets | |
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 Meat Puppets performing in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Discography | Meat Puppets discography |
| Years active |
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| Labels | |
| Members | Curt Kirkwood Cris Kirkwood Derrick Bostrom Elmo Kirkwood Ron Stabinsky |
| Past members | Shandon Sahm Kyle Ellison Andrew Duplantis Troy Meiss (touring member) Ted Marcus |
| Website | www |
Meat Puppets are an Americanrock band formed in January 1980 inPhoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup wasCurt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brotherCris Kirkwood (bass guitar/vocals), andDerrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attendingBrophy Prep High School in Phoenix. The three then moved toTempe, Arizona (a Phoenix suburb and home toArizona State University), where the Kirkwood brothers purchased two adjacent houses, one of which had a shed in the back where they regularly practiced.
Meat Puppets started as apunk rock band, but like most of their labelmates onSST Records, they established their own unique style, blending punk withcountry andpsychedelic rock, and featuring Curt's warbling vocals. Meat Puppets later gained significant exposure when the Kirkwood brothers served as guest musicians onNirvana'sMTV Unplugged performance in 1993. The band's 1994 albumToo High to Die subsequently became their most successful release. The band broke up twice, in 1996 and 2002, but reunited again in 2006.
In the late 1970s, drummerDerrick Bostrom played with guitarist Jack Knetzger in a band called Atomic Bomb Club, which began as a duo, but would come to include bassistCris Kirkwood. The band played a few local shows and recorded some demos, but began to dissolve quickly thereafter. Derrick and Cris began rehearsing together with Cris' brotherCurt Kirkwood by learning songs from Bostrom's collection ofpunk rock 45s. After briefly toying with the name The Bastions of Immaturity, they settled on the name Meat Puppets in June, 1980 after a song by Curt of the same name which appears on their first album. Their earliest EPIn A Car was made entirely of shorthardcore punk with goofy lyrics, and attracted the attention ofJoe Carducci as he was starting to work with legendary punk labelSST Records. Carducci suggested they sign with the label, and Meat Puppets released their first albumMeat Puppets in 1982, which among several new originals and a pair of heavily skewedDoc Watson andBob Nolan covers, featured the songs "The Gold Mine" and "Melons Rising", two tunes Derrick and Cris originally had written and performed as Atomic Bomb Club previously.[1] Years later, when the Meat Puppets reissued all of their albums in 1999, the five songs on In A Car would be combined with their debut album.
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By the release of 1984'sMeat Puppets II, the bandmembers "were so sick of the hardcore thing," according to Bostrom. "We were really into pissing off the crowd."[2] Here, the band experimented withacid rock andcountry and western sounds, while still retaining some punk influence on the tracks "Split Myself in Two" and "New Gods". This album contains some of the band's best known songs, such as "Lake of Fire" and "Plateau". While the album had been recorded in early 1983, the album's release was delayed for a year by SST.[3]Meat Puppets II turned the band into one of the leading bands onSST Records, and along with theViolent Femmes, theGun Club and others, helped establish the genre called "cow punk".
Meat Puppets II was followed by 1985'sUp on the Sun. The album's psychedelic sound resembled the folk-rock of theGreatful Dead,[4] while the songs still retained hardcore influences in the lengths of the songs and the tempos. Examples of this new style are the self-titled track, "Enchanted Porkfist" and "Swimming Ground".Up On The Sun featured the Kirkwood brothers harmonizing their vocals for the first time. These two albums were mainstays of college and independent radio at that time.
During the rest of the 1980s, Meat Puppets remained on SST and released a series of albums while touring relentlessly. Between tours they would regularly play small shows in bars around the Phoenix area such asThe Mason Jar (nowThe Rebel Lounge) and The Sun Club in Tempe. After the release of the hard-rock styledOut My Way EP in 1986, however, the band was briefly sidelined by an accident when Curt's finger was broken after being slammed in their touring van's door. The accident delayed the band's next album, the even more psychedelicMirage, until the next year. The final result included synthesizers and electronic drums, and as such was considered their most polished sounding album to date.[citation needed] The tour for Mirage lasted less than 6 months, as the band found it difficult to recreate many of this album's songs in a concert atmosphere.
Their next album, the ZZ-Top inspiredHuevos, came out less than six months afterward, in late summer of 1987. In stark contrast to its predecessor,Huevos was recorded in a swift, fiery fashion, with many first takes, and minimal second guessing.[citation needed] These recordings were completed in only a matter of days, and along with a few drawings and one of Curt's paintings taken from the wall to serve as cover art (a dish of threeboiled eggs, agreen pepper, and a bottle ofTabasco sauce), were all sent to SST shortly before the band returned to the road en route to their next gig. Curt revealed in an interview that one of the reasons for the album being called Huevos (meaning 'eggs' in Spanish) was because of the predominance of first-takers on the record, as similarly eggs can only be used once.
Monsters was released in 1989, featuring new elements to their sound with extended jams (such as "Touchdown King" and "Flight of the Fire Weasel") and heavy metal ("Attacked by Monsters"). This album was mostly motivated by the Meat Puppets' desire to attract the attention of a major label, as they were becoming frustrated with SST Records by this time.
As numerous bands from the seminal SST label and other kindred punk-oriented indies had before them, Meat Puppets grappled with the decision to switch to a major label. Two years after their final studio recording for SST, 1989'sMonsters, the trio released its major-label debut,Forbidden Places, on the indie-friendly London Records. The band chose London Records because it was the first label that ZZ Top, one of their favorite bands, was signed to.[citation needed][5]
Forbidden Places combined many elements of the band's sounds over the years (cowpunk, psychedelia, riffy heavier rock) while some songs had a more laid back early alternative sound. Songs include "Sam" and "Whirlpool", and the title track. Despite being a fan favorite,Forbidden Places is now out of print, and as such it remains a highly sought collectible online.
In 1992 following his departure from theRed Hot Chili Peppers, guitaristJohn Frusciante auditioned for the band. Cris Kirkwood stated "He showed up with his guitar out of its case and barefoot. We were on a major label then, we just got signed, and those guys had blown up to where they were at and John needed to get out. John gets to our pad and we started getting ready to play and I said, 'You want to use my tuner?' He said, 'No, I'll bend it in.' It was so far out. Then we jammed but it didn't come to anything. Maybe he wasn't in the right place and we were a tight little unit. It just didn't quite happen but it could have worked."[6]In late 1993, Meat Puppets achieved mainstream popularity whenNirvana'sKurt Cobain, who became a fan after seeing them open forBlack Flag in the '80s, invited Cris and Curt to join him onMTV Unplugged for acoustic performances of "Plateau", "Oh Me" and "Lake of Fire" (all originally fromMeat Puppets II). The resulting album,MTV Unplugged in New York, served as aswan song for Nirvana, as Cobain died less than 5 months after the concert. "Lake of Fire" became a cult favorite for its particularly wrenching vocal performance from Cobain. Subsequently, the Nirvana exposure and the strength of the single "Backwater" (their highest-charting single) helped lift Meat Puppets to new commercial heights. The band's studio return was 1994'sToo High to Die, produced byButthole Surfers guitaristPaul Leary. The album featured "Backwater", which reached #47 on the Billboard Hot 100, and a hidden-track update of "Lake of Fire". This album features a more straightforward alternative rock style, with occasional moments of pop, country and neo-psychedelic moments.Too High To Die earned the band a gold record (500,000 sold), outselling their previous records combined.
1995'sNo Joke! was the final album recorded by the original Meat Puppets lineup. Stylistically it is very similar toToo High to Die, although much heavier and with darker lyrics. Examples of this are the single "Scum" and "Eyeball", although the band's usual laid-back style is still heard on tracks like "Chemical Garden". Though the band's drug use had long included cocaine, heroin, LSD and many others, Cris' use ofheroin andcrack cocaine became so bad he rarely left his house except to obtain more drugs.[7] At least two people (including his wife and one of his best friends) died of overdoses at his house in Tempe, AZ during this time.[8] The Kirkwood brothers had always had a legendary appetite for illegal substances and during the tour to supportToo High To Die withStone Temple Pilots, the easy availability of drugs was too much for Cris. When it was over, he was severely addicted to cocaine and heroin. When their record label discovered Cris' addictions, support forNo Joke! was subsequently dropped and it was met with poor sales figures.[9]
Bostrom recorded a solo EP under the monikerToday's Sounds in 1996, and later on in 1999 took charge of re-issuing the Puppets' original seven records onRykodisc as well as putting out their first live album,Live in Montana. Curt formed a new band inAustin, Texas called theRoyal Neanderthal Orchestra, but they changed their name to Meat Puppets for legal reasons[citation needed] and released a promotional EP entitledYou Love Me in 1999,Golden Lies in 2000 andLive in 2002. The line-up was Curt (voc/git), Kyle Ellison (voc/git), Andrew Duplantis (voc/bass) andShandon Sahm (drums). Sahm's father was the legendary fiddler-singer-songwriterDoug Sahm ofThe Sir Douglas Quintet andTexas Tornados. The concluding track toClassic Puppets entitled "New Leaf" also dates from this incarnation of the band.
Around 2002, Meat Puppets dissolved after Duplantis left the band. Curt went on to release albums with the groupsEyes Adrift andVolcano. In 2005, he released his first solo album entitledSnow.
Bassist Cris was arrested in December 2003 for attacking a security guard at the main post office in downtown Phoenix, Arizona with the guard's baton. The guard shot Kirkwood in the stomach at least twice during the melee, causing serious gunshot injuries requiring major surgery. Kirkwood was subsequently denied bail, the judge citing Kirkwood's previous drug arrests and probation violations. He eventually went to prison at theArizona state prison inFlorence, Arizona for felony assault. He was released in July 2005.[10]
Derrick Bostrom began a web site for the band about six months before the original trio stopped working together. The site went through many different permutations before it was essentially mothballed in 2003. In late 2005, Bostrom revamped it, this time as a "blog" for his recollections and as a place to share pieces of Meat Puppets history.
On March 24, 2006, Curt Kirkwood polled fans at hisMySpace page[11] with a bulletin that asked: "Question for all ! Would the original line up of Meat Puppets interest anyone ? Feedback is good – do you want a reunion!?" The response from fans was overwhelmingly positive within a couple of hours, leading to speculation of a full-blown Meat Puppets reunion in the near future. However, a post made by Derrick Bostrom on the official Meat Puppets site dismissed the notion.[12]
In April 2006Billboard reported that the Kirkwood brothers would reunite as Meat Puppets without original drummer Derrick Bostrom.[13] AlthoughPrimus drummerTim Alexander was announced as Bostrom's replacement, the position was later filled byTed Marcus. The new lineup recorded a new full-length album,Rise to Your Knees, in mid-to-late 2006. The album was released by Anodyne Records on July 17, 2007.
On January 20, 2007, Meat Puppets brothers performed two songs during anArmy of Anyone concert, at La Zona Rosa inAustin, Texas. The first song was played with Curt Kirkwood and Cris Kirkwood along with Army of Anyone'sRay Luzier andDean DeLeo. Then the second song was played with original members Curt and Cris Kirkwood and new Meat Puppets drummer Ted Marcus. This was in the middle of Army of Anyone's set, which they listed asMeat Puppet Theatre on the evening's set list. The band performed several new songs in March at theSouth by Southwest festival. On March 28, 2007, the band announced a West Coast tour through theirMySpace page.[11] This is the first tour with original bassist Cris in eleven years. The tour continued into the east coast and midwest later in 2007.
In 2008 they performed their classic second album live in its entirety at theATP New York festival.
The band parted ways withAnodyne, signed toMegaforce and began recording new material in the winter of 2008. The resulting album, entitledSewn Together, was released on May 12, 2009.[14]In the summer of 2009 the band continued to tour across America. They appeared in Rochester, Minnesota outside in front of over 5,000 fans, after playing Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin the night prior. Meat Puppets performed at the 2009 Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans over the Halloween weekend.[15]
As of November 2009, Shandon Sahm was back as the drummer in Meat Puppets, replacing Ted Marcus.[16] The band was chosen byAnimal Collective to perform the album 'Up on the Sun' live in its entirety at theAll Tomorrow's Parties festival that they curated in May 2011.[17]
The band's thirteenth studio album, entitledLollipop, was released on April 12, 2011.[18]The Dandies supported Meat Puppets on all European dates in 2011.
Meat Puppets have played several gigs in their hometown since 2009, such as the Marquee show in June 2011 withDead Confederate.
As of early 2011 Elmo Kirkwood,[19] son ofCurt Kirkwood and nephew ofCris Kirkwood, was touring regularly with the band playing rhythm guitar.
Meat Puppets also contributed to Spin Magazine's exclusive albumNewermind: A Tribute to Nirvana, playing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
In June 2012, a book titledToo High to Die: Meet the Meat Puppets by author Greg Prato was released, which featured all-new interviews with band members past and present and friends of the band (includingPeter Buck,Kim Thayil,Scott Asheton,Mike Watt, andHenry Rollins, among others), and covered the band's entire career.[20]
In October 2012, it was announced that the group had just completed recording new songs.Rat Farm, the band's 14th album, was released in April 2013.[21]
In March 2013, Meat Puppets opened forDave Grohl'sSound City Players at theSXSW Festival inAustin, Texas.[22]
In April 2014, Meat Puppets completed a tour with The Moistboyz,[23] and in the summer of 2015, they toured withSoul Asylum.
The Meat Puppets were picked to open for an 11 show tour as support of TheDean Ween Group in October 2016 after Curt Kirkwood and drummer Chuck Treece contribute toThe Deaner Album. Also the same year, Cris either produced and/or played with the following artists forSlope Records - The Exterminators, the Linecutters, and Sad Kid.[24]
On August 17, 2017, original drummer Derrick Bostrom posted an update on his website derrickbostrom.net. He performed with Cris, Curt and Elmo Kirkwood at a concert honoring the Meat Puppets. It appears that, while Bostrom enjoyed himself, this was a one-off performance.[25]
On July 8, 2018, it was confirmed that Bostrom had replaced Sahm as the drummer for the band, and that keyboardist Ron Stabinsky had joined, as well.[26]
The band released their 15th studio album,Dusty Notes, on March 8, 2019.[27]
According to theChicago Reader, Meat Puppets "were part of a crucial group ofhardcore bands bucking the conventions of a genre that had quickly become codified."[28]Pitchfork described the Meat Puppet's style as "warpedpsychedeliccountry music".[29] Stephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic described the band's sound as "punk rock with a strong affection for '60spsychedelia andAmerican roots music", noting that they were one of the first bands onSST Records to "drift away from the fractured but muscular punk-oriented sound that had been SST's initial trademark." He also noted Meat Puppets' longevity compared to many other bands on the SST Records roster during the mid-1980s, saying the band "[survived] where other bands fell apart."[30]
MusicianLou Barlow, member of the bandsDinosaur Jr. andSebadoh, said, "Meat Puppets are the singularly most influential band on both Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh. I kick myself for not ever emphasizing this enough."[31] Dinosaur Jr. frontmanJ Mascis recalled that listeners construed his band as "a Meat Puppets rip-off at first."[32] In addition to Dinosaur Jr.[33] and Sebadoh,[34] Meat Puppets have been cited as an influence by numerous commercially successfulrock bands, includingNirvana,[35]Soundgarden,[36]Pavement,[37]Jawbreaker,[38] andSublime.[39]
In 2014,Phoenix New Times named the band'sself-titled debut album one of "The Most Influential Arizona Punk Records".[32]
Meat Puppets were inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2017.[40][41]
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