View source for In a Car

{{Infobox album
| name       = In a Car
| type       = EP
| artist     = [[Meat Puppets]]
| cover      = Meat_Puppets_In_a_Car.JPG
| alt        =
| released   = 1981
| recorded   =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Hardcore punk]]
| length     = 5:18
| label      = '''1981''': World Imitation<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-I0g4VDwtzgC&q=In+a+Car+meat+puppets+1981&pg=PA172|title=Post Punk Diary: 1980-1982|first=George|last=Gimarc|date=October 15, 1997|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780312169688|via=Google Books}}</ref> <br />'''1985''': [[SST Records|SST]] (044)
| producer   = [[Meat Puppets]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title = [[Meat Puppets (album)|Meat Puppets]]
| next_year  = 1982
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/in-a-car-mw0000197876|title=In a Car - Meat Puppets &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits &#124; AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
|rev2score = 6/10<ref>{{cite book |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |page=247}}</ref>
}}
'''''In a Car''''' is the [[Meat Puppets]]' first recording.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&q=In+a+Car+meat+puppets+1981&pg=RA1-PA2006-IA18|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|first=Colin|last=Larkin|date=May 27, 2011|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=9780857125958|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ufUBAAAQBAJ&q=In+a+Car+meat+puppets+1981&pg=PA188|title=Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996|first=Andrew|last=Earles|date=September 15, 2014|publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn=9780760346488|via=Google Books}}</ref> It was originally issued on L.A. art collective/record label World Imitation records as a 5-track 7-inch EP.<ref name="TP">{{cite web |title=Meat Puppets |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/meat-puppets/ |website=Trouser Press |accessdate=22 July 2020}}</ref>
It was recorded in Silver Lake studio in Los Angeles on June 4, 1981, with Ed Barger (who had engineered several early [[Devo]] singles).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/the-most-influential-arizona-punk-records-5-meat-puppets-untitled-seven-inch-ep-6592353|title=The Most Influential Arizona Punk Records: #5 - Meat Puppets, Untitled Seven-Inch EP|first=Tom|last=Reardon|date=December 29, 2014|website=Phoenix New Times}}</ref> It was recorded in about 12 hours.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/meat_puppets-desert_desperados|title=Meat Puppets Desert Desperados|website=exclaim.ca}}</ref> ''In a Car'' was first re-issued as a 7-inch on SST Records in 1985 after the success of their early LPs. The EP was also included on an SST compilation cassette (and later CD) "The 7 Inch Wonders of the World."
While the original EP contained only five tracks, six tracks were recorded at the session, including the song "Hair," written by fellow World Imitation band [[Monitor (band)|Monitor]]. It was released as a lone Meat Puppets track on the first [[Monitor (band)|Monitor]] LP on World Imitation records. It was not on any Meat Puppets release until [[Rykodisc]] issued the song as a bonus track (with the entire first EP and many outtakes) on the 1999 reissue of the first LP, ''[[Meat Puppets (album)|Meat Puppets]]''.
==Critical reception==
''[[Trouser Press]]'' called the recording "shrieking thrash-punk and unrealized avant-guitar ambitions."<ref name=TP/> ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' called it "tunefully abrasive."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NXdfW9kpokC&q=In+a+Car+meat+puppets+1981&pg=PT19|title=Retro Active|work=SPIN|first=SPIN Media|last=LLC|date=April 22, 1999|publisher=SPIN Media LLC|via=Google Books}}</ref>
==Track listing==
All songs written by [[Meat Puppets]].
#"In a Car" – 1:21
#"Big House" – 1:07
#"Dolphin Field" – 1:09
#"Out in the Gardener" – 1:04
#"Foreign Lawns" – 0:37
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Meat Puppets}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Meat Puppets albums]]
[[Category:1981 EPs]]