We're the Meatmen and You Suck

Album review

After the Blood Sausage and Crippled Children Suck EPs helped stake the Meatmen's dubious claim to rock godhood, We're the Meatmen... And You Suck!! helps slam the door completely on that particular notion. Recorded in front of a live New York City audience whose members presumably knew exactly what they came here for, We're the Meatmen has the same confrontational spirit as, say, the Misfits' Evilive, but one-tenth of the talent. In large part, this is because Tesco Vee is a (admittedly intentionally) terrible singer and raconteur -- take his introduction to "Mr. Tapeworm," demonstrating, among other things, what said tapeworm sounds like. More than once, his singing is mere gargled up-and-down hooting. Give him credit for knowing the ridiculousness of what's going on -- thus his a cappella rendition of the opening verse of "I Sin for a Living," which demonstrates clearly that Meatmen lyrics are best heard in a blur rather than recited as poetry. More than once, the musicians save Vee from himself -- the switch between hyper-speed thrash and slow-burn attitude on "Orgy of One" almost distracts attention from Vee's beefily voiced description of the joys of masturbation on the midsong break. Meanwhile, the otherwise unrecorded "Buttocks" finally gets the whole Meatmen aesthetic, if you will, down right -- Vee merrily uses the chorus to shout out "Buttocks, buttocks, I love buttocks!" over a surf-punk combination that's sheer hilarity. This is perhaps all related to the claims about girls who sh*t on the band's faces later during the introduction to "Meat Crimes," if one wished to investigate in more detail. Yes, the whole thing is perversely, stupidly funny -- but really, it only needs to be listened to about once every five years, if that.
© Ned Raggett /TiVo