History Music / MeatPuppets

* LighterAndSofter: ''Meat Puppets II'' saw them abandon their original hardcore sound. The next album, ''Up On The Sun'', does away with their remaining punk elements entirely, in favor of a more folk/psychedelic sound.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meaties_549.jpg

The Meat Puppets are an AlternativeRock and Cowpunk (a [[XMeetsY hybrid]] of PunkRock and CountryMusic, for those who couldn't guess from the name) band from Phoenix, Arizona who formed in TheEighties. First formed as a HardcorePunk band in 1980 by the Kirkwood brothers (Curt and Cris, on guitar and bass, respectively) and drummer Derrick Bostrom (this being regarded as the "classic" lineup), they were noticed by and quickly signed to the famed SST label, founded by BlackFlag guitarist Gregg Ginn (and home to BlackFlag, DinosaurJr, Music/HuskerDu, Saint Vitus and numerous other well-regarded AlternativeRock bands from the era). Their first EP and album were pretty typical (if somewhat noisier and less structured than usual) [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth hardcore stuff]] and kinda unrepresentative of the sound they'd become known for.

They achieved their highest level of commercial success in 1994, with the release of ''Too High To Die'', which contained the minor hit "Backwater". The biggest factor in their sudden (relative) success was Creator/KurtCobain choosing to cover "Plateau", "Oh Me" and "Lake of Fire" (all from ''Meat Puppets II'') in Music/{{Nirvana}}'s MTV Unplugged in New York performance. This success didn't last though- The follow-up, ''No Joke!'', didn't sell nearly as well. The band's increased use of hard drugs and the failure of the album resulted in the band breaking up shortly afterwards.

* HiddenTrack: ''Too High To Die'' has a [[RearrangeTheSong rearranged]] version of "Lake Of Fire" hidden after silence at the end of the last track. Some copies had a sticker that ruined the surprise as a selling point, since {{Music/Nirvana}}'s cover of the song was popular around the same time.

The band reformed in 1999, with a new lineup composed of Curt, Kyle Ellison, Andrew Duplantis, and Shandon Sahm (incidentally, the son of Doug Sahm, the legendary Tex Mex fiddler/singer and leader of The Sir Douglas Quartet and Texas Tornados). This lineup relased ''Golden Lies'' in 2000 before breaking up [i]again[/i] in 2002. In 2003 Cris was arrested for attacking a security guard with OWN baton. He went to prison for two years before being released. It looked like things were over for good after this...

* HiddenTrack: ''Too High To Die'' has a [[RearrangeTheSong rearranged]] version of "Lake Of Fire" hidden after silence at the end of the last track.

* ShoutOut: the title of ''Too High To Die'' was intended as a play on the {{Music/Ramones}} album ''Too Tough To Die''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: For the band's 2006 reformation, the band initially announced Tim "Herb" Alexander (of {{Primus}} fame) as their drummer. That would have been awesome...

* IndeciperableLyrics: Prevalent in their early hardcore material - it seems [[Music/TheGerms Darby Crash]] was an influence on Curt Kirkwood's vocal style at the time.

* MotorMouth: "Popskull"

They achieved their highest level of commercial success in 1994, with the release of ''Too High To Die'', which contained the minor hit "Backwater". The biggest factor in their sudden (relative) success was Creator/KurtCobain choosing to cover "Plateau", "Oh Me" and "Lake of Fire" (all from ''Meat Puppets II) in Music/{{Nirvana}}'s MTV Unplugged in New York performance. This success didn't last though- The follow-up, ''No Joke!'', didn't sell nearly as well. The band's increased use of hard drugs and the failure of the album resulted in the band breaking up shortly afterwards.

Sick of the loud-fast rules of HardcorePunk, they changed up their sound [[NewSoundAlbum SIGNIFICANTLY]] for their next album, Meat Puppets II. Now heralded as a [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome classic]], the record was well-received and set the tone for all their later albums. Throughout the rest of the decade, they released a string of records on SST that played with (but never completely abandoned) the sound they hit upon on II, while also streamlining their production and either hardening (Out My Way, Huevos, Monsters) or softening (Up On the Sun, Mirage) their overall sound. In 1989, after releasing Monsters, they briefly broke up, but they re-formed in 1991 and signed to major label subsidiary London records.

They achieved their highest level of commercial success in 1994, with the release of Too High To Die, which contained the minor hit "Backwater". The biggest factor in their sudden (relative) success was {{Nirvana}} mastermind Kurt Cobain choosing to cover 'Pups classics "Plateau", "Oh Me" and "Lake of Fire" (all from Meat Puppets II) in Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York performance. This success didn't last though- The follow-up, No Joke!, didn't sell nearly as well. The band's increased use of hard drugs and the failure of the album resulted in the band breaking up shortly afterwards.

The band reformed in 1999, with a new lineup composed of Curt, Kyle Ellison, Andrew Duplantis, and Shandon Sahm (incidentally, the son of Doug Sahm, the legendary Tex Mex fiddler/singer and leader of The Sir Douglas Quartet and Texas Tornados). This lineup relased Golden Lies in 2000 before breaking up [i]again[/i] in 2002. In 2003 Cris was arrested for attacking a security guard with OWN baton. He went to prison for two years before being released. It looked like things were over for good after this...

In 2006, however, Curt asked fans on the band's MySpace page if they were interested in having the classic lineup reform. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and rumors spread. The band proceeded to do just that, though original drummer Bostrom dropped out and his spot was filled by Ted Marcus. They released Rise To Your Knees in 2007. They have released three more albums since then, with the most recent being Rat Farm a few months back. As of 2009, Shandon Sahm is back as the drummer. In 2011, Curt's son Elmo joined the band as a rhythm guitarist on their tours.

* AlternativeRock: Cowpunk, specifically. They're one of the key Alt-Rock bands of [[TheEighties the 80s]].
* UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}}: where they're from. One of the very few relatively well-known bands to hail from their.

* HardcorePunk: on their first EP and album only.

* NewSoundAlbum: Meat Puppets II, all the way. They switched from Hardcore to Cowpunk and/or AlternativeRock. Most of their later albums are this as well, albeit to a lesser extent (they never really abandoned their signature sound, just played louder or softer variations of it).
* PerishingAltRockVoice: the Kirkwood brothers both have this. "Lake of Fire" is a great example.
* PsychedelicRock: definitely influenced by it, and some of their stuff basically qualifies. Partially responsible for making it hip for AlternativeRock bands to play it.
* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: their music was always pretty straightforward, though this is somewhat less true on later releases.
* UrExample: arguably a precursor of the Alternative Country movement of the 90s, though some other Cowpunk bands (Beat Farmers, Long Ryders, Rank and File, Jason and the Scorchers) count as well in this case.

* WordSaladLyrics: they're evocative though, even if they don't always make sense.

The Meat Puppets are an AlternativeRock and Cowpunk (a [[XMeetsY hybrid]] of PunkRock and CountryMusic, for those who couldn't guess from the name) band from Phoenix, Arizona who formed in TheEighties. First formed as a HardcorePunk band in 1980 by the Kirkwood brothers (Curt and Cris, on guitar and bass, respectively) and drummer Derrick Bostrom (this being regarded as the "classic" lineup), they were noticed by and quickly signed to the famed SST label, founded by BlackFlag guitarist Gregg Ginn (and home to BlackFlag, DinosaurJr, HuskerDu, Saint Vitus and numerous other well-regarded AlternativeRock bands from the era). Their first EP and album were pretty typical (if somewhat noisier and less structured than usual) [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth hardcore stuff]] and kinda unrepresentative of the sound they'd become known for.

Describe Meat Puppets here. Okay then, if you insist. [[NeoclassicalPunkRockZydecoRockabilly This may be a little complicated though]]...

Describe Meat Puppets here. Okay then, if you insist. [[NeoClassicalPunkRockZydecoRockabilly This may be a little complicated though]]...

* NewSoundAlbum: Meat Puppets II, all the way. They switched from Hardcore to Cowpunk/AlternativeRock. Most of their later albums are this as well, albeit to a lesser extent (they never really abandoned their signature sound, just played louder or softer variations of it).

* NeoClassicalPunkRockZydecoRockabilly: The 'Pups mix PunkRock, HardcorePunk, PsychedelicRock, CountryMusic, {{Funk}} and sometimes {{HeavyMetal}} into their sound.

Sick of the loud-fast rules of HardcorePunk, they changed up their sound [[NewSoundAlbum SIGNIFICANBTLY]] for their next album, Meat Puppets II. Now heralded as a [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome classic]], the record was well-received and set the tone for all their later albums. Throughout the rest of the decade, they released a string of records on SST that played with (but never completely abandoned) the sound they hit upon on II, while also streamlining their production and either hardening (Out My Way, Huevos, Monsters) or softening (Up On the Sun, Mirage) their overall sound. In 1989, after releasing Monsters, they briefly broke up, but they re-formed in 1991 and signed to major label subsidiary London records.

static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meaties_549.jpg

static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MeatPups_3162.jpg

static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Meatpuppets_3500.jpg

Describe Meat Puppets here. Okay then, if you insist. [[NeoClassicalPunkRockZeydecoRockabilly This may be a little complicated though]]...

{{static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MeatPuppets_3500.jpg}}

Sick of the loud-fast rules of HardcorePunk, they chnaged up their sound [[NewSoundAlbum SIGNIFICANBTLY]] for their next album, Meat Puppets II. Now heralded as a [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome classic]], the record was well-received and set the tone for all their later albums. Throughout the rest of the decade, they released a string of records on SST that played with (but never completely abandoned) the sound they hit upon on II, while also streamlining their production and either hardening (Out My Way, Huevos, Monsters) or softening (Up On the Sun, Mirage) their overall sound. In 1989, after releasing Monsters, they briefly broke up, but they re-formed in 1991 and signed to major label subsidiary London records.

In 2006, however, Curt asked fans on the band's MySpace page if they

* Cris Kirkwood, bass, vocals (1980-1996,

* Kyle Ellison, guitar, vocals (1999-
* Andrew Duplantis, bass, vocals (1999-
* Shandon Sahm, drums (1999-
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static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MeatPuppets_3500.jpg

Describe MeatPuppets here. Okay then, if you insist. [[NeoClassicalPunkRockZeydecoRockabilly This may be a little complicated though]]...

Sick of the loud-fast rules of HardcorePunk, they chnaged up their sound [[NewSoundAlbum SIGNIFICANBTLY]] for their next album, Meat Puppets II. Now heralded as a [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome classic]], the record was well-received and set the tone for all their later albums. Throughout the rest of the decade, they released a string of records on SST that played with (but never completely abandoned) the sound they hit upon on II, while also streamlining their production and either hardening (Out My Way, Huevos, Monsters) or softening (Up On the Sun, Mirage) their overall sound. In

* In A Car EP (1981)
* [[SelfTitledAlbum Meat Puppets]] (1982)
* [[NewSoundAlbum Meat Puppets II]] (1984)
* Up On the Sun, 1985
* Out My Way EP, 1986 (later expanded to a full album when remastered)
* Mirage, 1987
* Huevos, 1988

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