In a Car

In a Car is the Meat Puppets' first recording.^[4][5] It was originally issued on L.A. art collective/record label World Imitation records as a 5-track 7-inch EP.^[6]

In a Car
EP by Meat Puppets
Released	1981
Genre	Hardcore punk
Length	5:18
Label	1981: World Imitation[1] 1985: SST (044)
Producer	Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets chronology
In a Car (1981) Meat Puppets (1982)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	6/10[3]

It was recorded in Silver Lake studio in Los Angeles on June 4, 1981, with Ed Barger (who had engineered several early Devo singles).^[7] It was recorded in about 12 hours.^[8] In a Car was first re-issued as a 7-inch on SST Records in 1985 after the success of their early LPs. The EP was also included on an SST compilation cassette (and later CD) "The 7 Inch Wonders of the World."

While the original EP contained only five tracks, six tracks were recorded at the session, including the song "Hair," written by fellow World Imitation band Monitor. It was released as a lone Meat Puppets track on the first Monitor LP on World Imitation records. It was not on any Meat Puppets release until Rykodisc issued the song as a bonus track (with the entire first EP and many outtakes) on the 1999 reissue of the first LP, Meat Puppets.

Critical reception

Trouser Press called the recording "shrieking thrash-punk and unrealized avant-guitar ambitions."^[6] Spin called it "tunefully abrasive."^[9]

Track listing

All songs written by Meat Puppets.

1. "In a Car" – 1:21
2. "Big House" – 1:07
3. "Dolphin Field" – 1:09
4. "Out in the Gardener" – 1:04
5. "Foreign Lawns" – 0:37

References

1. Gimarc, George (October 15, 1997). Post Punk Diary: 1980-1982. Macmillan. ISBN 9780312169688 – via Google Books.
2. "In a Car - Meat Puppets | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
3. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 247.
4. Larkin, Colin (May 27, 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958 – via Google Books.
5. Earles, Andrew (September 15, 2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Voyageur Press. ISBN 9780760346488 – via Google Books.
6. "Meat Puppets". Trouser Press. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
7. Reardon, Tom (December 29, 2014). "The Most Influential Arizona Punk Records: #5 - Meat Puppets, Untitled Seven-Inch EP". Phoenix New Times.
8. "Meat Puppets Desert Desperados". exclaim.ca.
9. LLC, SPIN Media (April 22, 1999). "Retro Active". SPIN. SPIN Media LLC – via Google Books.