Red Red Meat, by Red Red Meat

Red Red Meat

by Red Red Meat

supported by

MingTubbs Friend, I totally forget if you were deep diggin' or asleep on this back in early-mid 90s? (apologies for addled) Their First Work & Utterly Essential For Fans of Music. I have no favorite track because they All are. Jesus! made home in Chicago for a spell. Noting that original CD-only album ended on "Sand Box" (oh! Glynis.). And also noting that the cover art on this very welcome vinyl re-issue was the logo for their Perishable label. Forever fitting, innit?

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Red Red Meat via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$8 USD or more

1.	Robo Sleep 03:00	buy track
2.	Snowball 04:42	buy track
3.	Molly’s On The Rag 02:04	buy track
4.	Flossy 08:51	buy track
5.	Idaho Durt 02:55	buy track
6.	Cellophane 04:22	buy track
7.	Grief Giver 03:01	buy track
8.	Rabit Eyed 04:33	buy track
9.	Hot Nickety Trunk Monkey 03:01	buy track
10.	Nice Round Numbers 05:59	buy track
11.	X-Diamond Cutter Blues 03:11	buy track
12.	Stare Box 03:07	buy track
13.	PCLM 02:28	buy track
14.	Rubbing Mirrors 06:48	buy track
15.	Sand Box 02:26	buy track
16.	Disco Heathen (Alt Mix) 04:29	buy track
17.	K-Head 04:21	buy track
18.	Grief Giver (w/ Brian) 03:39	buy track
19.	I'm Not In Love 04:56	buy track

about

In Chicago in the early ‘90s, combustable rock outfit Friends of Betty, led by songwriter Tim Rutili, collapsed and reconfigured itself as Red Red Meat. In 1992, the band released its self-titled debut on its own Perishable Records imprint. Over the course of its career, Red Red Meat would twist and expand its sound on a series of records for Sub Pop, eventually morphing into experimental outfit Califone, but Red Red Meat finds core members Rutili, Brian Deck, Ben Massarella, and Glenn Girard (along with Jimmy Chamberlin of the Smashing Pumpkins and Friends of Betty bassist Glynis Johnson) playing strutting, feedback-drenched rock & roll.

Produced by Brad Wood (Liz Phair, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Sea and Cake) and Deck, who’d go on to work with Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine, Josh Ritter, the Fruit Bats and more, the songs of Red Red Meat are brash and aggressive, but represent the band’s first steps into a sonic realm where rhythm, restraint, and open space was as important as punk-influenced noise jams. With Red Red Meat, the band moved into “less bombastic, more groove oriented” sounds, says Ben Massarella, who along with Brian Deck and Chamberlin plays drums on the record. The band found itself drawn to bands like the Velvet Underground and Rolling Stones, toward bands “that had a real good solid groove, and an identity because of it,” Massarella says.

Songs like Robo Sleep, Snowball and early single Hot Nikketty Trunk Monkey trash with barraging riffs and funk rhythms, while Molly’s On The Rag and Nice Round Numbers introduce folk and country elements. Cellophane Man, with its lurching Crazy Horse stomp and Sand Box (with a haunting vocal by Johnson) indicate the direction the band would follow on Jimmywine Majestic, Bunny Gets Paid, and thier swan song, There’s a Star Above the Manger Tonight.

The record features beautiful, hilarious, and cryptic lyrics from Rutili. “I get a hard on driving past your house,” he spits over the jittery punk funk of P.C.L.M. “Rabbit eyed, love you and numbness,” he screams mournfully on Rabit Eyed. Rutili’s songs paint alien visuals, owing to his emergence as a filmmaker. His films would play heavily into the identify of Red Red Meat, Massarella says. ‘In my mind, he’s got a complete artistic sense about it.”

This deluxe reissue of the album features alternate takes and rarities, notably the band’s cover of 10cc’s soft rock hit I’m Not In Love, which demonstrates Rutili and the band’s ability to take a song apart, to push it to the point of breaking, employing the song’s familiar melody and pop template before overdriven guitars briefly render the song unrecognizable.

Long out of print and never before available on vinyl, Red Red Meat is unhinged and damaged, introducing elements the band would continue to refine and experiment on, a cocky, unwashed opening salvo from one of ‘90s indie rock’s most influential bands.

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released June 5, 2020

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califone / tim rutili / red red meat image

califone / tim rutili / red red meat Los Angeles, California

Califone is an acclaimed musical project centered around Tim Rutili and a regular and rotating list of contributors. Formed out of the Chicago band Red Red Meat, they've been exploring the tension between experimental noise, acoustic texture, technology, humanity, cinematic images and microscopic poetry since 1998 with over a dozen albums of sleeper hits and enduring classics. ... more

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