Photo Credit: Joseph Cultice

The Meat Puppets classic SST catalog, which spans from 1981 through 1993, has been remastered from its original format and will be reissued by Megaforce Records on 180-gram vinyl and CD, with bonus music from the previous 1999 Rykodisc pressings. The series will roll out on Oct. 6 with the band’s debut EP, In a Car (1981), and Up on The Sun (1985). As a preview, the band shared a bonus video that captures a rare 1985 performance of “Swimming Ground” and more.

In addition to the impending release, the band also unveiled their intent to share a new live album from the Too High to Die era, 1991 to 1995, dubbed Camp Songs. “Back in those days, the Puppets were at peak powers,” offered drummer Derrick Bostrom via press release. “We played constantly in support of a hit album, so we got way out there.” 

They also shared a live version of “The Wayward Wind,” the country classic written by Stanley Lebowsky and Herb Newman and recorded on April 5, 1994, at the Music Centre in Utrecht, Holland, and in February, they will release their self-titled set, Meat Puppets II (1984), with additional titles to come. 

Meat Puppets features Curt Kirkwood, Cris Kirkwood and Derrick Bostrom. The ensemble delivered seven albums on Greg Ginn’s influential Los Angeles-based SST label. “Our back catalog is an American treasure and should be in the Smithsonian,” says bassist and co-founder Cris Kirkwood. “Megaforce is doing a huge service to the planet to make sure our music continues to get into the hands of everyone who needs to have the coolest record collection on the block.”

Formed in Phoenix in 1980, Meat Puppets crashed onto the scene with the blazing untitled 7” EP, now known as In a Car. Originally released on World Imitation Records, the recording took place in a single day, June 4, 1981, with each song clocking in at a minute long. “In a Car is the best representation of what we sounded like live back when we first started out. We were definitely on,” says Bostrom. 

In support of the set, J. Mascis, leader of Dinosaur Jr., added via press release: “The Meat Puppets’ first record was pretty amazing to us when it came out.” In addition, the group will also drop 1985’s Up on the Sun, which was mixed over three days and serves as the follow-up to Meat Puppets II. Curt remembers, “I was trying to get outside of style, if anything. I always thought it was a pretty different album for us, one that stands out.  I love the sound of it.” 

“It was just like magic,” added Curt, of the SST years. “You could make a record, with no thought to how much it will cost. There were no time worries, no money—but it wasn’t required. There wasn’t any production. You just go in and play. It was like you were doing a gig. Then we kind of figured out how to mess around with production, when we produced Up on the Sun. But even that was done in three days. No one was trying to figure out how to make things sell, they were just letting you do it.” 

Watch a trailer for the reissues below, and catch a rare performance of “Swimming Ground” (1985). Hear “The Wayward Wind” (Live, 1994).

In a Car Track List:

In a Car

Big House

Dolphin Field

Out in the Gardener

Foreign Lawns

Up on the Sun Track List: 

Up on the Sun

Maiden’s Milk

Away

Animal Kingdom

Hot Pink

Swimming Ground

Buckethead

Too Real

Enchanted Porkfist

Seal Whales

Two Rivers

Creator

Bonus Songs (CD only):

Hot Pink (demo)

Up on the Sun (demo)

Mother American Marshmallow (demo)

Embodiment of Evil (demo-previously unreleased)

Hot Pink (demo)

Camp Songs Track List:

Walking Boss

Amazing Grace

I Saw the Light

El Paso City

White Sport Coat

Blue Moon of Kentucky

The Wayward Wind

Big Iron

Tennessee Stud

Crawdad Song

Ojo

The Adventures of Pee Pee the Sailor