Stitched Up and Ready to Rock

After nearly 30 years since their inception and a dozen records and counting the Meat Puppets are back.

In their tenure, they’ve experienced many highs and lows, including a guest appearance on “MTV Unplugged” with Nirvana, which led to some commercial success in the mid ’90s.

The next 10 years saw the band go through a pair of breakups, drug addiction and prison time. After a long hiatus (and bassist Cris Kirkwood’s release from prison) the Puppets returned with 2007’s “Rise To Your Knees.”

The Paradise Valley, Ariz., band’s latest work, “Sewn Together,” contains an eclectic array of songs in its usual territory of psychedelic desert rock blended with country/western. The end result is another strong release in its genre-bending collection.

The album commences with the title track, a lazy but upbeat country/rock mash-up spearheaded by lead singer/guitarist Curt Kirkwood’s distinctly flat vocals and western guitar picking. The song drifts between soft melodies, bringing a pleasantly familiar smoothness via Kirkwood’s vocal harmonies in the chorus. As with many of Meat Puppets’ works, “Sewn Together” closes with the acid rock sounds of Curt’s guitar.

The stellar “Blanket of Weeds” takes the cake, flush with dirty distortion and Curt’s gliding vocals. Drenched in folk and psychedelic roots, this track serves as proof of their ability to always come through with a potent work that’s both fresh and familiar. This knockout track is one of their best in years.

Other notables include the haunting “Sapphire,” in which the band treks into somewhat uncharted territory. Chock-full of piano and classical guitar, the dreary piece seems like an attempt at a romantic ballad. On “Go To Your Head,” Curt’s dreamy, echoic vocals drive the song, creating a hypnotic vibe.

The album is not without a few misses, as some songs fail to deliver down the stretch, but it’s hard to say it’s anything less than solid.

While the Meat Puppets’ previous album was a resurgence after Cris Kirkwood’s eleven-year hiatus, “Sewn Together” sounds like a strong statement that they might hang around for years to come.