Up on the Sun

Last updated

Up on the Sun
MeatPuppets - UpOnTheSun.jpg
Studio album by
Meat Puppets
ReleasedMarch 21, 1985
RecordedJanuary 26–28, 1985
StudioTotal Access, Redondo Beach, California
Genre
Length33:41
Label SST (039)
Producer Spot
Meat Puppets chronology
Meat Puppets II
(1984)		Up on the Sun
(1985)		 Out My Way
(EP)
(1986)

Up on the Sun is the third album by the Meat Puppets, released in 1985 by SST Records. The album features a cleaner and more technical sound with a more psychedelic rock feel, in contrast to the sloppy punk approach of their first album (1982), while continuing with the mystical, poetic lyrics and country-inflected songwriting of Meat Puppets II (1984).

Contents

Background

Brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood were interested in psychedelic rock. The pair often indulged in recreational drug use with Derrick Bostrom, who came from an affluent, politically liberal family in Arizona and who introduced them to punk rock. During a trip to Los Angeles, the group got into the underground post-punk scene there. [3] Joe Carducci invited the group to join SST Records, a record label associated with the early hardcore punk scene and home to Black Flag. The Meat Puppets' first EP In a Car (1981) [4] and first seven albums appeared through SST. [5]

Meat Puppets (1981) featured fast-paced thrash punk mixed with psychedelic rock and country laden with guitar feedback and Curt's screamed vocals. [6] The group soon tired of hardcore; Meat Puppets II was slower and more emotional with psychedelic guitar effects and mystical, poetic lyrics by Curt. [7] The release of Meat Puppets II was delayed until 1984, a peak year for SST which also saw the release of Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade , Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime , and numerous albums by Black Flag who due to legal issues had not been able to release an album since 1981's Damaged . [8] The Meat Puppets supported Meat Puppets II with a tour along with Black Flag and The Nig-Heist, where the band's long hair and jam-band approach displeased audiences. [9]

Recording and release

As with the band's previous album, recording took place at Total Access Studios in Redondo Beach, California, with production by SST's house engineer Spot. They recorded from January 26 to 28, 1985, and SST released the album that March. [10] The lyrics were printed with the liner notes, unbroken into the songs' stanzas. [11] Curt Kirkwood used a Rockman amplifier to produce a clean guitar sound. [9] Curt made the painting for the cover: a mug with a picture of a marijuana plant on it. [12]

Rykodisc brought Up on the Sun back into print in 1999, along with the Meat Puppets's six other SST albums. [5] Bonus tracks on the rerelease include a version of "Hot Pink" that incorporates a lengthy improvised jam. [13]

Music

Musically, Up on the Sun departed slightly from the country-influenced sound of its immediate predecessor, being more based in what Mark Deming described as "sunburned psychedelia". [2] Jon Dolan called the record an "insanely idyllic" work of "post-punk pastoralism". [1]

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
Entertainment Weekly A− [14]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 9/10 [15]
The Village Voice B+ [16]

To reviewer Fayette Hickox the Meat Puppets "deserve a legion" like the Deadheads—the faithful Grateful Dead fans—and the album "incorporate[s] ... seeming contradictions  The band's hardcore past rattles beneath the surface of an almost folksy ingenuousness." [17] In his Consumer Guide in The Village Voice Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ and wrote, "Curt Kirkwood is the David Thomas of endearing sloppiness. ... Curt's guitars not so much chim[e] as chatter in a nonchalantly unstylish take on neofolk lyricism. ... the music's charms are a little too flaccid to hold up the most unabashedly lysergic worldview yet to emerge from postpunk". [16] Gregg Turner in a review in Creem denigrated Curt's vocals as "like a sick dog begging for food" and the production for failing to capture the quality of the band's live sound. He judged the material was "not all that riveting". [18] A People review called Curt's guitarwork "strikingly inventive and mellifluous" while finding his vocals and the production unimpressive and found the band an acquired taste. [19]

The band toured in support of the album throughout most of 1985, after which they followed up with a six-track EP titled Out My Way in 1986. [12]

Suzanne McElfresh gave the 1999 rerelease a positive review, calling it "more fully realized" [5] than Meat Puppets II. [5] Mark Deming at AllMusic gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and wrote: "The album has an air of carefree drift, but it doesn't meander, and the performances are remarkably tight, full of energy and purpose even when the songs are redolent of goofing off. ... the band rarely sounded as joyous or played with the same fire and accuracy as they demonstrated here, and it's arguably their most purely pleasurable work", [2] though he considered "it lacks a song as memorable as 'Lake of Fire'". [2]

The album was ranked #72 on Pitchfork Media's "Best Albums of the 1980s". [20]

Birdsong Brewing named a beer "Up on the Sun Saison" after the Meat Puppets song. [21] The Meat Puppets performed Up on the Sun in its entirety at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that they curated in May 2011. [22]

Analysis

The group members have been open about their fondness for recreational drug use, in particular of LSD, and though the lyrics make no direct references to drugs, Curt Kirkwood has called Up on the Sun the group's "beer and pot" album. A psychedelic approach permeates the music and lyrics. [11]

Curt had recently become the father of twins and the theme of fatherhood recurs in the lyrics, as in lines such as "You are my daughter" in the lead track. [11]

The lyrics to "Swimming Ground" are more realistic and idyllic than the psychedelic fantasies that precede it; the escape is toward the local swimming ground on hot summer days and the clouds overhead fail to let loose the rain. The scene recalls the desert summers of the Kirkwoods' Arizona youth. [23]

"Enchanted Pork Fist" is a mostly instrumental track with nonsense lyrics; the opening line "pistachios turn your fingers red" refers to the red with which manufacturers often dye the shells of commercial pistachios. [24] Matthew Smith-Lahrman interprets this line as suggesting the lasting effects of a drug on the singer. [25]

Curt uses flowing water in "Two Rivers" as a metaphor for different aspects of life, such as relationships and the life's ever-changingness, and how different waters—and aspects of life—constantly flow into each other. [26] The album closes with "Creator", in which Curt takes a cynical view of religion: "some say openly 'I don't know' / others build elevators / to take the chosen few / who can afford the scenic view". [26]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Curt Kirkwood, unless otherwise noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Up on the Sun" 4:04
2."Maiden's Milk"Curt Kirkwood, Cris Kirkwood 3:19
3."Away" 3:25
4."Animal Kingdom"Curt Kirkwood, Cris Kirkwood1:25
5."Hot Pink" 3:27
6."Swimming Ground" 3:04
Side two
No.TitleLength
7."Buckethead"2:22
8."Too Real"2:13
9."Enchanted Porkfist"2:31
10."Seal Whales"2:21
11."Two Rivers"3:20
12."Creator"2:10

Personnel

Meat Puppets
Technical

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meat Puppets</span> American rock band

Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood, and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix. The three then moved to Tempe, Arizona, where the Kirkwood brothers purchased two adjacent homes, one of which had a shed in the back where they regularly practiced.

<i>Too High to Die</i> 1994 studio album by Meat Puppets

Too High to Die is the eighth studio album by American rock band the Meat Puppets. The album was released on January 25, 1994, by London Records. It was produced by Butthole Surfers guitarist Paul Leary. The album's title is a parody of The Ramones' 1984 album Too Tough to Die.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curt Kirkwood</span> American musician (born 1959)

Curtis Matthew "Curt" Kirkwood is an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and primary songwriter for alternative rock group Meat Puppets.

Derrick Edwin Bostrom is an American musician. He is a founding member and current drummer of the band Meat Puppets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cris Kirkwood</span> American musician (born 1960)

Christopher "Cris" Kirkwood is an American musician who is the bassist and a founding member of the Meat Puppets, an alternative punk rock band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcano (supergroup)</span>

Volcano was a supergroup formed by Meat Puppets frontman Curt Kirkwood, Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh, Sublime soundman Michael 'Miguel' Happoldt, and bass player of The Ziggens Jon Poutney after the breakup of Eyes Adrift. They released one self-titled studio album in 2004.

<i>Monsters</i> (Meat Puppets album) 1989 studio album by Meat Puppets

Monsters is the sixth studio album by American rock band the Meat Puppets, released in October 1989. Their last release on SST Records, it was reissued on Rykodisc in 1999 with additional bonus tracks, recording notes by Derrick Bostrom and liner notes by music journalist Mark Kemp. As an added bonus, the reissue includes an "Enhanced CD" partition for play on home computers. Monsters offers the promotional video for "Light". The clip was produced and directed by Bill Taylor and features shots of the Puppets live in concert.

<i>Forbidden Places</i> 1991 studio album by Meat Puppets

Forbidden Places is the seventh studio album by the Meat Puppets, released in 1991. It is their first release on London Records.

<i>Meat Puppets II</i> 1984 studio album by Meat Puppets

Meat Puppets II is the second album by the Phoenix, Arizona band the Meat Puppets, released in 1984. It is a departure from their self-titled debut album, which consisted largely of noisy hardcore with unintelligible vocals. It covers many genres from country-style rock to slow acoustic songs to psychedelic guitar effects.

<i>Meat Puppets</i> (album) 1982 studio album by Meat Puppets

Meat Puppets is the first album by American band the Meat Puppets, released in 1982. The album is unlike their later, better-known releases due to its hardcore punk sound.

<i>Huevos</i> (album) 1987 studio album by Meat Puppets

Huevos is the fifth studio album by the Arizona alternative rock band the Meat Puppets. It is said to have a strong ZZ Top influence in terms of style. The album is named not only after the Spanish word for eggs, but is also a reference to the Southwestern expression "Huevos", meaning to deliver with chutzpah. Most of the songs were recorded in one take. The cover art is done by guitarist/vocalist Curt Kirkwood.

<i>Out My Way</i> 1986 EP by Meat Puppets

Out My Way is an EP by the alternative rock band the Meat Puppets, released in 1986. It features a more hard rock-oriented sound than on previous releases, leading some critics to say that the sound is similar to the southern/hard rock stylings of ZZ Top. The EP was reissued in 1999 by Rykodisc, with additional bonus tracks.

<i>Mirage</i> (Meat Puppets album) 1987 studio album by Meat Puppets

Mirage is the fourth studio album by the Arizona alternative rock band Meat Puppets.

<i>No Joke!</i> 1995 studio album by Meat Puppets

No Joke! is the ninth studio album by the Meat Puppets. The album was released on October 3, 1995, by London Records. It was the follow-up to the band's album Too High to Die and was the last Meat Puppets album with bassist Cris Kirkwood and drummer Derrick Bostrom. A video was filmed for the song "Scum", directed by Dave Markey.

<i>Golden Lies</i> 2000 studio album by Meat Puppets

Golden Lies is a 2000 album by the Meat Puppets. After the You Love Me EP, in 1999, Golden Lies was the second studio release from the second line-up of the band. Although Derrick Bostrom and Cris Kirkwood do not appear on the album, they were still considered members of the Meat Puppets.

<i>No Strings Attached</i> (Meat Puppets album) 1990 compilation album by Meat Puppets

No Strings Attached is a 1990 compilation album of Meat Puppets songs released by their ex-record label SST Records. It was released after the band left SST Records to join London Records. The compilation includes songs from their first album Meat Puppets (1982) through to their 1989 album Monsters. The Meat Puppets had no involvement in this release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Backwater (song)</span> 1994 single by Meat Puppets

"Backwater" is a song recorded by the Meat Puppets. It was released as the first single from the group's album Too High to Die. The single was released in three versions: one promo CDS and two singles. It is the Meat Puppets most successful single. The highest position in the US was No. 47 in Billboard Hot 100, No. 2 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, No. 11 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 31 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. The 3 track single features a cover of the Feederz. They Might Be Giants sing back-up vocals on "White Sport Coat."

<i>Sewn Together</i> 2009 studio album by Meat Puppets

Sewn Together is American rock band the Meat Puppets' twelfth full-length studio album, released on May 12, 2009, both on CD and vinyl. It was the follow-up to their 2007 reunion album Rise to Your Knees.

<i>Rat Farm</i> 2013 studio album by Meat Puppets

Rat Farm is the fourteenth full-length studio album by the Meat Puppets. It was released on April 16, 2013, through Megaforce Records.

<i>Dusty Notes</i> 2019 studio album by Meat Puppets

Dusty Notes is the fifteenth studio album by American rock band Meat Puppets. The album was released on March 8, 2019, by Megaforce Records. It is the Meat Puppets' first album to feature Elmo Kirkwood, son of the Puppets' lyricist and guitar player Curt Kirkwood; Elmo plays backing guitar. It is also the MP's first album to feature keyboardist Ron Stabinsky. Dusty Notes also notably features the return of original drummer Derrick Bostrom.

References

  1. 1 2 Dolan 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Deming.
  3. ↑ Reynolds 2010, p. 391.
  4. ↑ Reynolds 2010, p. 392.
  5. 1 2 3 4 McElfresh 1999, p. 165.
  6. ↑ Reynolds 2010, pp. 392–393.
  7. ↑ Reynolds 2010, p. 393.
  8. ↑ Reynolds 2010, p. 395.
  9. 1 2 Reynolds 2010, p. 394.
  10. ↑ Smith-Lahrman 2014, p. 31.
  11. 1 2 3 Smith-Lahrman 2014, p. 32.
  12. 1 2 Roeser 1995.
  13. ↑ Taylor 2006, p. 149.
  14. ↑ Bautz 1999.
  15. ↑ Weisbard & Marks 1995.
  16. 1 2 Christgau 1985.
  17. ↑ Hickox 1985, p. 15.
  18. ↑ Turner 1985, p. [ page needed ].
  19. ↑ Novak & Hiltbrand 1985.
  20. ↑ "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork Media . Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  21. ↑ Hartis 2013, p. 86.
  22. ↑ Erlewine.
  23. ↑ Smith-Lahrman 2014, p. 41.
  24. ↑ Smith-Lahrman 2014, p. 45.
  25. ↑ Smith-Lahrman 2014, pp. 45–46.
  26. 1 2 Smith-Lahrman 2014, pp. 47–48.

Works cited

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.