Up on the Sun | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 21, 1985 | |||
Recorded | January 26–28, 1985 | |||
Studio | Total Access, Redondo Beach, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 33:41 | |||
Label | SST (039) | |||
Producer | Spot | |||
Meat Puppets chronology | ||||
|
Up on the Sun is the third album by the Meat Puppets, released on March 21, 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).
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]
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]
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]
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. [14]
"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. [15] Matthew Smith-Lahrman interprets this line as suggesting the lasting effects of a drug on the singer. [16]
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. [17] 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". [17]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [18] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [19] |
The Village Voice | B+ [20] |
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." [21] 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". [20] 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". [22] 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. [23]
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". [24]
Birdsong Brewing named a beer "Up on the Sun Saison" after the Meat Puppets song. [25] The Meat Puppets performed Up on the Sun in its entirety at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that they curated in May 2011. [26]
All tracks are written by Curt Kirkwood, unless otherwise noted
No. | Title | Writer(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 Kirkwood | 1:25 |
5. | "Hot Pink" | 3:27 | |
6. | "Swimming Ground" | 3:04 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
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 |
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 houses, one of which had a shed in the back where they regularly practiced.
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.
Curtis Matthew Kirkwood is an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and primary songwriter for alternative rock group Meat Puppets, and for playing with Nirvana on MTV Unplugged in New York.
Derrick Edwin Bostrom is an American musician. He is a founding member and current drummer of the band Meat Puppets.
Christopher "Cris" Kirkwood is an American musician who is the bassist and a founding member of the Meat Puppets, an alternative punk rock band.
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.
Forbidden Places is the seventh studio album by American rock band Meat Puppets, released in 1991. It is their first release on London Records.
Meat Puppets II is the second album by the Phoenix, Arizona, band the Meat Puppets, released in 1984 by SST Records.
Meat Puppets is the debut studio album by American rock band the Meat Puppets, released in 1982 through SST Records.
3-Way Tie is the fourth and final full-length album by American punk band Minutemen, released in 1985 by SST Records. It features covers of songs by the Urinals, Meat Puppets, Blue Öyster Cult, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Roky Erickson. The last song, a cover of Erickson's "Bermuda", was sung over the phone by Mike Watt.
Huevos is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band the Meat Puppets, released on October 27, 1987 by SST Records. The album title is literally the Spanish word for "eggs," although it carries a slang meaning associated with testicular fortitude. Most of the songs were recorded in one take. The cover art is done by guitarist/vocalist Curt Kirkwood.
Out My Way is an EP by American alternative rock band Meat Puppets, released in 1986 by SST Records. 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.
Mirage is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band Meat Puppets. It was released in April 1987 by SST Records.
"Plateau" is a song by alternative rock band the Meat Puppets, written by vocalist and guitarist, Curt Kirkwood. It appears on the band's second album, Meat Puppets II, released by SST Records in April 1984.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rat Farm is the fourteenth full-length studio album by the Meat Puppets. It was released on April 16, 2013, through Megaforce Records.
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.