Meat Puppets Love Liars: Derrick Bostrom of the Meat Puppets told us about his Liars experience.

Derrick Bostrom: The Liars were no one you’ve ever heard of; just three older guys from another high school who we used to buy pot from. One day they decided to start a punk rock band. Back in late seventies Phoenix, that could earn you a severe beating if you weren’t careful. Imagine my shock when they showed up at my high school for a lunch time performance! Turns out, a friend of mine tricked both the school and the band into doing the show, which, of course the students hated.

But I was awestruck by The Liars. I don't suppose you'd hear it any more – the passing of time having made what was so special about them commonplace now – but this was thirty-five years ago. Imagine if Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath had joined the Ramones and they played prog-punk arrangements of Leif Garrett's "That's Rock And Roll" and Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams.” The band had a nihilistic abandon that hit me like a bolt from the blue. They became the archetype of my emerging teenage aesthetic. Even their interminable between-song tuning was a revelation to me.

The Liars didn't last long. Their bassist moved to the coast and joined the Germs. Their drummer succumbed to drug abuse not long after. But they were the first real punk rock band I ever saw in person, and they were my heroes for a fleeting moment. It may seem like a stupid notion after all this time, but the Liars probably changed my life.

Meat Puppets Love Liars: The Meat Puppets' reissues of In a Car and Up on the Sun are out now. The new live album, Camp Songs, is also out now. Meat Puppets II is reissued in February. 


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