It's been all about reformations and the reemergence of alternative heroes of the past lately, maybe as a reaction to the somewhat stale state of current guitar music (on a commercial level at least). Dave Grohl's Sound City Players have recently had their old mates The Meat Puppets as live support, and the seminal band who were a big influence on the college-rock and grunge scenes that we keep mentioning due to the ongoing revival, are owed a debt by many current bands. You only need to look at Nirvana's 'MTV Unplugged In New York' album for solid proof of that. Now in their fourth decade, and on their second reformation, the guys return on April 15th with new album 'Rat Farm' to teach the youngsters where they got their sound from.
The first single to be lifted from the album is 'Down', a typically upbeat and proto-grunge sound is found, you could call this the US equivalent of the post-punk scenes of the UK. When New York's punk explosion took place, the bands that followed differed from those in the Britain, looking to more to hardcore and alt-rock sounds to shake off the rock dinosaurs, and these guys helped lead the charge. The great thing about 'Down' is that it's essentially a continuation of the sound they've been making all along. It's their sound after all, why change it? Whether they'll get they'll get the promotion to make much of an impact on a new generation is largely irrelevent. They've cemented their place in history already, just hearing them on good forn is enough. Plus all those Nirvana fans could provide a handy sales boost that means we could expect more from them in the future. Let's hope so.
The Meat Puppets' website
Pre-order the album
Catch them live:
WE 4/03 NEW YORK, NY - MERCURY LOUNGE
TH 4/04 NEW YORK, NY - MERCURY LOUNGE
FR 5/05 THACA, NY - THE HAUNT
SA 4/06 ROCHESTER, NY - THE CLUB AT WATER STREET
SU 4/07 COLUMBUS, OH - SKULLYS
TU 4/09 BLOOMINGTON, IN - THE BISHOP
WE 4/10 LEXINGTON, KY - COSMIC CHARLIES
TH 4/11 NASHVILLE, TN - HIGH WATT
FR 4/12 CHATTANOOGA, TN - JJ'S BOHEMIA SA
SA 4/13 JACKSON, MS - MARTIN'S
SA 5/25 BARCELONA, SPAIN, PRIMAVERA SOUND, ATP STAGE
FR 5/31 LISBON, PORTUGAL - OPTIMUS PRIMAVERA
SU 6/02 BRISTOL, UK - THE FLEECE
MO 6/03 BRIGHTON, UK - THE HAUNT
WE 6/05 GLASGOW, UK - 02 ABC +
TH 6/06 NEWCASTLE, UK - THE ACADEMY +
FR 6/07 MANCHESTER, UK - MANCHESTER ACADEMY +
SA 6/08 LONDON, UK - THE FORUM +
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