Meat Puppets - Up On The Sun LP

(SST Records, 1985)



“As first-wave western punkers, the Meat Puppets' shredding/psychedelic style was an anomaly in the circle of their SST contemporaries like the Minute Men, Husker Du and Sonic Youth. Starting out as a hardcore band then bending themselves into something more adventurous, the Meat Puppets were the longhairs in the crowd, the guys who took LSD and smoked weed and painted their album covers with bright rainbow hues while the rest of the underground scene did its speedcore or robot/techno things.

They nevertheless found a following among those less into the scene's trends and more in it for the music: their audience was the crowd who didn't mind guitar leads, distortion and sometimes literally jazzed-up chord structures challenging the punk rock mix. There are even times when the Meat Puppets' sound has more in common with the fusion of the '70s than the new wave of their day, but make no mistake, the Meat Puppets could play fast, were unquestionably punk and totally rocked. This set's "Never to Be Found" and "Up on the Sun" are prime examples of what they were capable of at their very best, wringing out sunbursts of sound from the tight but still freestyle jams.” - Paste Magazine