Review of the Meat Puppets' "Up on the Sun"

Up on the Sun (1985) is the third album from cult US rock band the Meat Puppets. A mixture of quite a few different rock sounds, the band consists of lead singer and guitarist Curt Kirkwood, brother and bassist Cris and drummer Derrick Bostrom.

Curt is well known in underground circles for his guitar virtuosity. Indeed Paul Leary, of Butthole Surfers fame, once labeled him "the best guitarist in the world." Curt takes a somewhat philosophical approach to his instrument, explaining that “what I like about electric guitar” is that “everything that I do with my mind is imitative, more or less, but the electric guitar can do things that the mind can't conceive.” And, while Leary’s praise is somewhat effusive, Curt Kirkwood’s skill on guitar is certainly one of the highlights of Up on the Sun.

That needs to be said, because while the musicianship may not be lacking, the songwriting ability clearly is. The title track, also the opening song, is typical of the fare to be found on this record. It has a funky guitar riff that recurs throughout the song, but that’s about it. Altogether, it is not unfair comment to state that the Meat Puppets are better skilled in the art of creating ‘atmosphere’ than they are in the ability to fill this space with anything substantial. Essentially they promise a lot, but don’t deliver.

If this record is anything to go by, perhaps this is the reason why the Meat Puppets are an underground band- i.e. they’re not particularly good. Although they have an innovative sound which many other musicians undoubtedly took notice of- for example future REM material bears more than a passing resemblance to ‘Away’- in the end it just comes back to what has already been stated. This is an underground band who produce ‘atmosphere’, but little else.

Still, this is but one opinion. Others think this is a fantastic album. Vive le difference, and that sort of thing, but it is difficult to see why.

RATING: 2/10

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