CD: “Good For Nothing” by Meat Sweats

About three months ago those wonderful local chaps Meat Sweats decided to enter a studio and lay down eight of their finest tracks. And not content with making great music; they deliver their product in a shiny round tin (not unlike PiL’s “Metal Box”), although they claim no copying was ever intended. And its uniqueness doesn’t end there. The CD disc itself looks more like a vinyl disc from years gone by. And so with that fanfare you ask, what’s the music like? Well here goes.

This eight-song collection opens with “Good For Nothing”. A scratchy guitar intro amid an overall garagey sound with echoey drums paves the way for Jim’s snarly vocal to kick in. Good For Nothing is the classic “put-down” song and a wonderful opener. Searing chords in the bridge compliment the chunky guitars and bass throughout, before the excellent finale. More scratchy guitars at the beginning of “Do It” before that echoey, powerful hitting kicks in. The guitars remind me of early Buzzcocks and it’s a clarion call of a song, while the power remains throughout. The twisted guitar section in the bridge keeps it interesting before returning the power to its conclusion.

“Selfie” was penned by bassist Kim’s daughter and put to song quite splendidly by the guys. The content is unapologetically current and a subject every one of us can allude to. The crunchy guitars match the pounding snare, allied to Jim’s now nonchalant vocal. Lyrically poignant about today’s youth the “me,me,me” section is so on point as the chorus returns. And the almost spoken word vocal edit at its conclusion is quite simply a masterpiece. “Psycho” is Stooges-esque with a clear and audible vocal. Power hitting twinned with loud chunky guitars it ups the ante on previous tracks. Jim sings faster on the verses while the chorus is much more personal.

“Watched” is more a social awareness song. An ode to our CCTV system and the feeling of “Big Brother” watching us. More powerful snare hitting and the guitars never remain the same; while Jim’s vocal never loses it’s spite and anger, right up until the sharp ending. “Love” is quite clearly not a “love song” (more an anti-love song). At no point is it positive as it races to its conclusion with huge hitting and frenetic guitars.

Again ‘Brain Dead’ hints at Buzzcocks with its vocal style and guitars never remaining simple. More layering throughout and that echoey snare is prominent. I’m not sure if it’s written with someone in mind or pure fiction, either way it is catchy as hell. The main riff reminds me of Jonathan Richman’s ‘Roadrunner’ but the similarities end there. This collection ends on a high with “Stupid Hair” which is a direct ode to Trump. Lyrically articulate amid the chiming guitars and more powerful hitting. Mid-song the vocal turns to anger as Jim vents his spleen in the lyrics. Those lyrics take a more humorous slant towards its conclusion as the guitars and drums build to the end.

Considering where Meat Sweats were a couple of years ago playing sporadic gigs in the locality, it’s great to see them taking these fine songs to the next level. Observational lyricism is the order of the day here and this eight-song collection doesn’t disappoint. Let’s hope this is the springboard to future output – we shall wait and see.

Band Members
Paul – Drums.
Kim – Bass.
Steve – Guitar.
Jim – Vocals, Guitar

Track listing
Good for Nothing
Do It
Selfie
Psycho
Watched
Love
Brain Dead
Stupid Hair

Videos

Links
http://facebook.com/meatsweats

Review by Ross A. Ferrone.