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Red Red Meat
Bunny Gets Paid, SubPop CD SP 318b, 1995
Protein-rich bluesy rock
Turning conventional influences on their ear, Chicago's
Red Red Meat mix noisy rock and blues with an unerring ear
for melody. Bunny Gets Paid, their second SubPop release,
features a hypnotic wall of fuzzed out guitars colored with
bluesy vibrato, acoustic slide guitar, and various sound
effects. Their oblique song titles and half-murmured,
phantom vocals make it impossible to figure out what the
hell they're singing about. Overall, the effect is spacey
and sometimes tense, much like the Velvet Underground. The
acoustic scratch of "Carpet of Horses" is a vintage Spaceman
3 head trip, complete with droning organ. "Chain Chain
Chain" borrows a leitmotif from Aretha and comes up with a
fuzz-drenched pop number, with careening guitar breaks and
lyrics that obliquely rail against the ties that bind ("Feel
like sex and talk like 25/Heat makes you cross/Makes you
cross"). "Rosewood, Wax, Volts + Glitter" is a dirty slab of
guitar noise that sludges and stomps along until the
choruses, when a gloriously optimistic riff pirated from the
Beatles' "Day Tripper" brings everything into focus. "Idiot
Son" marries a morose, flanged guitar riff with a razorsharp
slide guitar. There are a few pieces of gristle. Take away
the melodic touch and blues colorings that make RRM unique,
and you end up with a lazy mood piece like "Variations on
Nadia's Theme." For that reason, Jimmywine
Majestic, their first SupPop release, holds a
definite edge in terms of songwriting. All the same, after a
few spins this one ought to stick to your ribs.
- Scott Boggan
production notes & song titles
Tim Rutili, vocals, guitar; Matt Fields, bass; Tim
Hurley, guitar; Ben Massarella, drums.
Produced by Brad Wood.
Carpet of Horses | Chain Chain Chain | Rosewood, Wax,
Voltz & Glitter | Buttered | Gauze | Idiot Son |
Variations on Nadia's Theme | Oxtail | Sad Cadillac |
Taxidermy Blues in Reverse | There's Always Tomorrow
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