Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets II
SST Records [1983]
When I found out that the Meat Puppets were from my home state of Arizona it really spiked my interest in knowing more. After reading up a little bit on the Meat Puppets history and discovering that they had ties to one of my own favorite classic bands, Nirvana, I thought checking out this record was a no brainer.
Right from the opening fuzzed up rocker “Split Myself In Two” I knew that I was hooked on their truly raw and indie rock sound. In just over 2 minutes the Meat Puppets give you a blended early grunge with a more space out type of rock that sounds very fresh to me today even though this record came out 4 years before I was born.
The next track on the album, “Magic Toy Missing”, possess the more jangly type of rock n roll I was expecting from the Meat Puppets because I familiarized myself with the 3 songs Nirvana covered on their 1993 Unplugged record from this album. The surprising thing about “Magic Toy Missing” is that the song is only an instrumental. This leads you into the foot tapping “Lost” which has more of a country backbone while singer Curt Kirkwood has a voice during this song like one of my Dad’s favorites – Neil Young.
Now what I always knew as Nirvana tracks, “Plateau”, “Oh Me”, and “Lake Of Fire” definitely have a new life after hearing their original version here on Meat Puppets II. I can tell why Kurt Cobain respected them so much as their true emotion just pours out of each song especially on “Lake Of Fire” which delivery wise, sounds like the last words Kirkwood is ever going to sing!
I am glad I took the chance on listening to this record as I plan on checking out more Meat Puppets material. Meat Puppets II is honestly a great indie record and it surprised me on how good it really is. In fact, I liked it so much I asked for a copy on vinyl as a Christmas gift – I hope I’ve been good this year!
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