By
Phil Leckman
Golden Lies
(Breaking/Atlantic)
Grade: B-
Give the Meat Puppets credit for its staying power, if nothing else - Golden Lies is the tenth album from these Arizona natives, who played their first show way back in 1980. Fusing Black Flag-vintage L.A. punk and a 60s-tinged jam band aesthetic into a meandering, psychedelic whole, the Puppets earned widespread underground acclaim during the 1980s, attracting a devoted cult following.
A brief stab at stardom in the early 90s, however, was short-lived - although the band appeared with Nirvana at its famous "MTV Unplugged" concert, the band members' long-standing enthusiasm for illegal pharmaceuticals soon got the better of them - 1994's Too High to Die was only a minor hit and No Joke!, the follow-up, sank like a stone.
Golden Lies, the band's first new album in five years, marks the debut of a new lineup, with only one original member, principal songwriter Curt Kirkwood. The post-substance abuse Puppets make a valiant effort to reclaim its quirky legacy - Lies displays much of the nonsensical, hallucinogenic wordplay that marked the group's early material, like this snippet from "I Quit": "I believe in the rotten rope/I believe in the cantaloupe/I believe in the haunted house/I believe in Mickey Mouse." But while tracks like "Hercules," a classic acid-punk freakout, display traces of the old Puppets' druggy musical appeal, most of the material here lacks the meaty tang of previous offerings. Songs like "Armed and Stupid" are middle-of-the road, generic alternative rock, offering nothing new. The new Meat Puppets may be healthier than its predecessors. Unfortunately, it is also far less tasty.
