Meat Puppets Classic Puppets CD

In a development that must be mildly depressing for a generation of college-radio fans, the Meat Puppets' genre-bending mix of hardcore, psychedelia, and country music is old-school enough to have been overlooked by legions of indie-rock kids. However, younger listeners who don't own a copy of the Puppets' UP ON THE SUN (purchased by many during the mid-to-late 1980s in that dingy little record store near campus) might appreciate the quirky group, which influenced bands from Nirvana to Wilco to Califone.

The aptly named CLASSIC PUPPETS is a smartly chosen collection of songs from the Arizona band's eight-year tenure on SST Records, concentrating on the superb 1984-87 stretch from MEAT PUPPETS II to MIRAGE, and throwing in four previously unreleased bonus tracks (of varying quality) to boot. Although the set ends with tunes from 1989's MONSTERS, and therefore omits the Puppets' glossier and more commercially successful material from their brief early-'90s flirtation with the alt-rock mainstream, it doesn't suffer from the omission. True to the title, CLASSIC PUPPETS is the Meat Puppets at their best.

Includes liner notes by Derrick Bostrom.

Personnel: Curt Kirkwood (vocals, guitar); Cris Kirkwood (vocals); Kyle Ellison (guitar); Derrick Bostrom, Shandon Sahm (drums).

Audio Mixer: Meat Puppets.

Audio Remixers: Derrick Bostrom; Mike Hissong; David Nichols .

Liner Note Author: Derrick Bostrom.

Photographers: Derrick Bostrom; Naomi Peterson.

Meat Puppets: Curt Kirkwood (vocals, guitar); Chris Kirkwood (vocals, bass); Kyle Ellison (guitar); Andrew Duplants (bass); Derrick Bostrom, Shandon Sahm (drums).