As rock bands go, Arizona’s Meat Puppets have never been what one would classify as normal. At their calmest you could say that their approach to music is unorthodox and at their wildest well, they are flat out, full-speed-ahead weird.

Since forming in Paradise Valley, Arizona in early 1980, the band has released seminal albums, including the SST classic Meat Puppets 2, created their own style of punk rock by combining psychedelic rock (and tons of actual hallucinogens), country music and the off beat vocal delivery of twin brothers Cris and Curt Kirkwood, to make a sound solidly that of the brothers Meat.

The sound the Kirkwoods fostered was not embraced by the mainstream, the one exception being 1994’s Too High To Die, but it was borrowed from and built upon by some of the most influential bands of my generation including Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr., Nada Surf, the Replacements to name just a few. The band’s latest album, Sewn Together [Megaforce] is exactly that, a sewn together tapestry of all the influences and substances that morphed into the creature that is The Meat Puppets.

The album’s title track is a singsong campfire distortion touched country rock gem that would make Gram Parsons and his Flying Burrito Brothers proud. That is just one of the pop infused gems to be found on the album ironically released by metal gods Metallica’s first label residence.

“Blanket of Weeds” is a harmonized tune with a distortion jam filling out it’s midsection; “Sapphire” shows that the at times stellar band Concrete Blonde may have been Puppets followers as well. “Go to Your Head” has a feeling that yes, in fact, Michael Stipe stole his voice from Cris Kirkwood and Peter, Bill and Mike pilfered their best ideas from the bluegrass lovin’ Arizona punks.

But longtime fans don’t be fooled by the rock conformity. Oh no, there are some moments that we’ve come to know, love and attribute to an acid consumption on par with Hendrix. The most likely suspect of this and the perhaps the best song on Sewn Together is the whistle lead, “The Monkey and The Snake”. Strange lyrics abound here: “This is the story of the monkey and the snake/the monkey hit that sucker with a rake/snake bit the monkey and the hand/now the monkey’s singin’ in a band.” And believe it or not it gets weirder from there. Drum solos, flange guitar, mandolin and funky bass are in full force here.

To put it simply, Sewn Together is a beautifully strange album that proves the Meat Puppets are still relevant and have much to offer the world of “indie” rock.

The point of the many comparisons to other bands in this review is not do to a lack of imagination on my part; or is it to imply that The Meat Puppets have reached the end of their creative rope after twenty-nine years. That couldn’t be further from the truth; it is merely to show the influence that band has had on Alternative music. Without the Meat Puppets, alternative as we know it would have an entirely different sound or may not exist at all.

Thank you Jesus for the Kirkwood brothers. Sewn Together is one of the top five best albums I’ve heard so far this year and more importantly, it is yet another step in The Meat Puppets’ journey of greatness.

Despite the fact that it was colder than a well-digger’s ass outside — and on top of that, the alleged day of rest — I ventured out to Webster Hall Sunday night to see Delta Spirit and Nada Surf on one of the last nights of their tour. In the end all that shivering and teeth clattering was a small price to pay for three solid hours of seriously good music.

The first thing that struck me about the gig was that, though I only caught the last two or three songs of opener Bear Hands, the line-up was super cohesive. Musically the bands’ sounds just gelled, no doubt thanks in part to weeks or months on the road together.

[Delta Spirit]

Delta Spirit is one of those bands that I’ve been listening to for a little while, following on MySpace, etc., but haven’t seen live or really jumped on an album just yet. Sunday certainly changed that first bit for me, but definitely the full-fledged, album-buying fan part, too.

Their sound translates so well live, and Matt Vasquez is manic on the mic and awesome to watch. They played a few of my faves, incuding “Parade” and “Trashcan,” which are both available on their MySpace. “Trashcan” was definitely a highlight of the set, partly because it’s so raucous in the first place, and partly because it’s just one of my favorite songs at the moment. The tinny sound of the piano is like an old upright and seeing it live felt like a gospel brunch. Good times. Other than that, though, the high point was definitely their mini-encore, for which they were joined by Matthew Caws of Nada Surf on “People Turn Around,” a fabulous sing-along free for all. Couldn’t have picked a better way to close the set.

“People Turn Around” left the energy amped and high for Nada Surf, and they delivered on that energy for more than 90 minutes. It was the first time in ages I’ve been to a show where I felt like the headlining set went on forever — in the best way. Most of the time it just flies by, and I find myself surprised that it’s time for the encore. This time around it was exactly the opposite. The whole thing just felt comfortable and lived-in, like Nada Surf knew us and we knew them and they’d been playing for us for as long as they could remember. At the same time, it was fresh and varied and the set list featured the perfect blend of old and new, with lots of material coming from Let Go and Lucky, and a little from The Weight is a Gift.

[Nada Surf]

I guess for me the best part of the set was that Nada Surf is a band I stopped listening to with any sort of religious zealousness somewhere between 2002’s Let Go and 2005’s The Weight is a Gift. It wasn’t that I stopped listening completely, but I wasn’t doing as much of it as I had been, and I wasn’t buying entire albums anymore, either. After Sunday, though, I think I’m definitely back on the wagon. They played a good number of my old favorites, like “Happy Kid” and “Inside of Love,” and some that are steadily becoming new favorites, like “Beautiful Beat,” “Weightless” and “I Like What You Say,” which are all from Lucky, just out in February of this year on Barsuk. They did “Blizzard of ‘77″ and “Blonde on Blonde” in the encore, both from Let Go.

It’s pretty obvious that Matthew Caws has experience working an audience, because his stage banter is so spontaneous and funny — he told a story about an embarrassing leather jacket he’d had as a teenager, and how he’d come to see The Ramones at Webster Hall in 1987 and it had been stolen, thus helping him to make a less ridiculous fashion choice. I definitely go to gigs for the music, but it’s little tidbits like that one that can set a concert apart for me, and really make bigger venues feel more intimate.

The fact is, Nada Surf still rock just as much as they did on High/Low — and all the while flipping the bird to their biggest commercial hit, “Popular,” which warms the heart of the anti-capitalist musician in me — and Lucky proves that they’re also still making really good, relevant alternative rock outside the touring arena, too.

Nada Surf
Delta Spirit