I went and saw one of my favorites, the Meat Puppets, yesterday at my workplace for an exclusive instore performance.  They were full of piss and vinegar and really put on a great show.  About half new tunes and half oldies, including one of the better performances of "Up On The Sun" I've heard.  The new songs were pretty damn good too, which prompted me to buy their new disc "Sewn Together".  I was a little skeptical at first because of how much I DIDN'T enjoy the last one "Rise To Your Knees".  Really didn't enjoy it.  But the new songs had so many signifiers of the band's 90's output that I love, I couldn't help but get into them.  I took the record home.  The wax is pretty far out orange and green splatter. COOL!  Cover doesn't look that bad. COOL!.  I throw it on and in comes one of the songs I heard at the show.  COOL!  but what heinous din graces my ears?  AUTO TUNED VOCALS!  It looks like the Kirkwoods(or their engineer, or all three)  decided to clean up Curt and Cris's faltering warbling mumble harmoies this time around.  Perhaps taking a cue from former label mate Bob Mould?  Not as exaggerated as some of Bob's endeavors into sonic perfection, but immediately recognizable to anyone who's recorded their own singing voice with something as simple as an answering machine, or ANYONE who's heard somebody ACTUALLY SING before.  Needless to say, what a fucking let down! They finally got together a decent set of songs and nailed down a way to groove with their new drummer, and here someone goes and fucks up one of the most charming things about this band.  The production is on par with "No Joke", layering myriad guitar parts and percussion, with the rhythm staying thick like molasses.  But then the Kirkwood turned Senor Roboto cuts through the soul-destroying bubble bath sludge and just makes things .... WEIRD.  I don't know if this is a good weird or bad weird.  I'm all for artists taking hold of new technologies to make something new, but this one is a little more heartbreaking for me.  Maybe I've invested too much of my youth loving this band's older albums to take this at face value, but I am trying to.  It just feels really off-putting.  But maybe this is how some fans felt when they flipped over "My War" for the first time, or when "Nevermind" completely eclipsed "Bleach", or when "Terrapin Station" came out. It's just weird dude.