Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 17
  2. Negative: 0 out of 17
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  1. Apr 15, 2013
    80
    Hard to stack up to the wonder years this far into their career, but Rat Farm comes darn close, and the tracks on their 14th outing are the closest they've come in a long time to the colorful, no-frills brand of twangy alt-rock and informal punk (with hints of Americana, country, folk, and prog) that they instilled on their SST records.
  2. Uncut
    Apr 11, 2013
    80
    Pretty straight by the Puppets' wobbly standards, but still bewitchingly unhinged. [May 2013, p.74]
  3. May 1, 2013
    80
    Rat Farm definitely belongs in the “up” column, and I hope fans give this smart, creative and catchy album its due.
  4. Mojo
    Apr 11, 2013
    80
    This fourth record in six years is another gem, a touch rockier than 2011's saccharine Lollipop, but no less sublime. [May 2013, p.95]
  5. 70
    More laidback than their most feted, punk-derived early albums, this nevertheless compares favourably with the new 'un by Meat Puppets fans Milk Music.
  6. Apr 12, 2013
    80
    The resulting amalgam never seems forced or affected, and with Curt Kirkwood’s mastery of the guitar the band can skip effortlessly across styles.
  7. Apr 16, 2013
    70
    Though they certainly had friends in high, grungy places, Rat Farm is another example of how singular the Meat Puppets are, each new record sounding more like themselves than anything else.
  8. Magnet
    May 10, 2013
    80
    If the fanboys and motorheads are equally turned off by it in places, you get the sense the Puppets themselves--who sound happier and more comfortable here than they have in years--would be perversely pleased. [No. 98, p.58]
  9. 80
    It's dizzying psychedelic country in finest Meat Puppets tradition, full of slightly off-centre harmonies in Grateful Dead manner, and plenty of Kirkwood's swirling, trippy guitar.
  10. May 16, 2013
    78
    It's almost unimaginable, but they continue to render sounds that swirl and dissolve into something deceptively and gloriously American.
  11. Apr 23, 2013
    80
    It’s actually a great record once you give up all preconceived notions of what to expect.

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