While I appreciate a good bodily fluid joke as much as the next emotionally stunted human male, the artwork for the Meatmen’s Cover The Earth (it’s a covers album… get it?) continues the Detroit punkers’ tradition of unfunny album covers. Head Meatman Tesco Vee was involved in the early days of Touch and Go, and the Meatmen somehow conned them and Homestead into releasing their “hilarious” records for years.
As a publicist and promoter, I’d often have writers or college radio MDs talk smack about my records, and that was fine, you know, part of the job. What many of them didn’t realize is that we acted as filters for a lot of the insanely wrongheaded and terrible releases that hit our doorstep every other day. At least once a week, a true catastrophe like this one would reach our doorstep unsolicited. We’d pass it around the office to much laughter, followed by depression that we lived in a world where true evil like this could exist. I have seen more psychedelic shrooms, pixelated 72-dpi JPEGs, fractals, and grown men making out with their guitars on album covers than you can imagine. (My favorites were always when a band member’s “hot” girlfriend or wife would appear on the cover, wearing a bikini or something. She was always credited as a model.)
Congratulations, Meatmen. You’ve joined the ranks of Scuba La Boobula and Marijuana: The Band in the “you are too old for this” pile.
By the way, is this two “tapioca and motor oil”-related “Art?”s in a row?
Cover The Earth [seeofsound.com; HT Christopher R. Weingarten]
I like how the painting details the jean vest dude’s awesome Reeboks.
But do they have a singer named “Bong Rip”?
Since when did The Meatmen look like The Supersuckers?
Marijuana: The Band totally harshed my mellow.
I’m more amused by how middle-aged the ‘Men look. But yeah, they entertained 14-year-old skaters and scamps for years on end.
Marijuana: The Band has had an ad in the OC Weekly for years now. I know many people that laugh at it, but nobody that has actually listened to them.
can’t find a damn link to the cover of “Gonna Rob the Spermbank” by The Ex.
i’m tempted to remove idolator from my RSS feed for making fun of the Meatmen
and for firing me
@Christopher R. Weingarten: :(
Okay, it’s one thing to have a bunch of cartoon men jerk off on the cartoon world. A little OTM but, whatever. Why would these guys jerk off on a map or globe (it looks 2-D to me)? What did cartography ever do to the Meatmen?
@janine: They should be doing it to the Mercator Projection. Yeah, you heard me.
If you’re not in on the joke, you are the joke.
@xpadrex Deep.
hey, the original title of the record was “The Meatmen fucking hate cartography” but REM was calling their greatest hits album “REM fucking hate globes” and man would there have been egg on our face if it went to press with that title. almost like showing up to the homecoming dance in the same dress as that bitch in 3rd hour. Right, point is Tesco is old and he makes dick and fart jokes on his albums. he also makes them at home and at work. He LIVES fart jokes, man. LIVES EM! This is getting a little long winded, and I know that you're busy and T-Pains cock isn't going to suck itself so check it: Fuck off, wimp. this album is sweet.
-Dave (the guy on the right that is jerking off onto a map)
yea, right on, dave. this album is actually very good. tesco's voice is incredible and he shows his different styles on this album. his talent is also very impressive. he still has it to this day at the age of what? 54, is it? still rocking out, unlike a lot of washed out rock stars these days. at least the meatmen, once again, did the job and offended an ignoramus prick, like so. EVERY song on this album is amazing. tesco's version of the crawling chaos' “sex machine” is even better than the original! also, “slum goddess” is awesome. along with “vibrator”, “big bad john”, “motorbikin'”, and “i slept in an arcade”. those are my favourites. oh, and “i'm a bug”. shites, just about every song!
I bet there is a big resemblance between Christopher R. Weingarten and a German oven mitt…