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Bassist from the meat puppets Cris Kirkwood shares his impression of the record:
1.
Sewn Together; Curt was hanging out with DMX, who was working on some new tracks at The Saltmine, so I took advantage of his momentary lapse of attention to add a third, unauthorized, harmony to the choruses. I'm such a scamp.
2.
Blanket of Weeds; The little bubbling wockita-wockita effect in the lead section is me thwocking myself on the cheek while waiting for the vocal passages to come back around. Talk about your high-tech, seasoned-pro style studio wizardry.
3.
I'm Not You; One of the coolest vocal things we've ever done is the responding line in the chorus, which features a stack of falsetto harmonies. It's like fuckin' Queen or somethin', dood! Plus, who knew Curt was such a snazzy mando' player?
4.
Sapphire; From the title to the verses and chorus, another stellar example of Curts' way with words and his ability to capture that certain something that exudes the essence of the Meat Puppets.
5.
Rotten Shame; And speaking of '70s arena rock, that's an 8 string bass on the ascending intro lines, just like that guy from Cheap Trick (editor: that'd be Tom Petersson, who does not suck). Without too much imagination, the title could pretty easily be applied to my life, the bands' career, or just about anything, for that matter, considering what a toilet the world is. Quack.
6.
Go to Your Head; Little by little it all goes to hell. Aint that the truth, and yet, ultimately, the redemptive qualities of rock (and life) shine their meager light through the darkness of adversity, while Curt's guitar gently weeps. (editor's note: we like the Beatles)
7.
Clone; This project is just dripping with some of the most tolerable vocal shit, the round in the pre-chorus being a fine example. The composition of this song is testimony to the old saw "Less is More" in that it's primarily only two chords, and yet it conveys so much. What that so much is that it supposedly conveys is supposedly it that is much so that what! Fancy!
8.
Smoke; One of the cool things about this project, for me, is that the versions on the album managed to maintain much of the original charm of Curt's demos. The pedal steel track he did at home was so integral (i.e. drunkenly unreplicable) that we cut this one playing along with the demo. Elmo, Curt's son, played the acoustic lead in one take. Sick.
9.
S.K.A.; As in Senior Kegger Association, a paeon to the joys of the undeveloped Sonoran desert and its seemingly limitless abilities to absorb the egesta of boondocking baboons. Urp. We're, uh, totally rockin'.
10.
Nursery Rhyme; Fab Four-era Hoffner bass, raga-esque drumloops and sitar. Like, fuckin' psychadelic, man! An excellent example of Curt's craftsmanship as a composer, lyricist and guitar player. The guy never ceases to amaze (and amuse) me. Aww, that's sweet. (editor: more homage to the mop tops. once you get started, it's an easy habit to feed . . . )
11.
Monkey and the Snake; There used to be this little carved Bavarian figurine, who's head would swivel back and forth when he whistled, that Curt and I idolized as children. We have tried to live our lives accordingly.
12.
Love Mountain; Curt and Ted did this one at Ted's apartment without me, so I'm not really sure that I can confidently speak to the nature of the song, but if I had to hazard a guess, considering the title, I'd say it's about hate.