Monsters

The Meat Puppets' final release for SST, 1989's Monsters is best described as a cross between their experimental Mirage and the more in-your-face Huevos (both released only a few months apart in 1987). Several major labels had been hotly pursuing the trio, but when negotiations slowed to a snail's pace, they decided to issue another album on SST in the meantime. Curt Kirkwood's crunchy guitar riffs are spotlighted throughout the album, but some of the songs are hindered by synth textures and the fact that the songs were recorded one instrument at a time, which mutes any excitement of the trio playing live in a room together (which was what made Huevos such a success). Still, several highlights were included -- the vicious album-opening "Attacked By Monsters," the melodic "Light," the tough rocker "The Void," the rollicking instrumental "Flight of the Fire Weasel," the warped love song "Strings on Your Heart," and the sleepy album closer, "Almost Like Being Alive." Three bonus tracks were added to the 1999 Rykodisc reissue: the previously unheard original "Wish Upon a Storm" and two radically different versions of "Flight of the Fire Weasel." ~ Greg Prato