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Soundpony, Cain's Ballroom and other music venues offer eclectic music this month.
Nov. 5 — Meat Puppets with Wighead and tHE pORTRAYL at Cain’s Ballroom Second Stage, 423 N. Main St.
Let’s stipulate a few facts. Mud is water and dirt. Coneys are terrible and delicious. The fact that Meat Puppets are still making music is a testament to artistry and modern medicine.
Started in Arizona in 1980, Meat Puppets have been a part of more musical genres than Liberace had outfits. While starting with punk, they grew tired of that noise and mixed country into their punk, making “cow punk.” They were on one of the all-time labels: SST Records (along with the Violent Femmes, Husker Du and Sonic Youth). In 1993, Kurt Cobain from Nirvana saw them open for Black Flag. Cobain realized their genius and shared the stage with them. They also shared some of their songs (“Plateau,” “Oh Me” and “Lake of Fire”) for Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged” album and subsequently found an entirely new audience at the height of the grunge scene.
Their 1994 release, “Too High to Die,” became their first gold record, mixing cow punk and the psychedelic.
Then the wheels came off (see: drugs, prison, overdoses, emergency surgeries, general mayhem).
It got so bad, the band could easily have been profiled on “E! True Hollywood Story.”
But like any great American story, there is always a second act.
Meat Puppets’ recent release, “Sewn Together,” has been praised and lauded in alt-rock circles as “a more polished, less accidental venture than the original” (Spin Magazine). The Kirkwood brothers are still at the forefront of a great American band that has something to add to our musical diaspora. This concert promises to be a great night of music with some terrific local acts opening.
Just leave the flannel at home.
Nov. 7 — The Mean Spirits with The Dikes of Holland at Soundpony Lounge, 409 N. Main St.
Self-described as “a pack of methed-up unicorns on a laser-guided killing spree,” The Mean Spirits have been a crowd favorite in Norman and Oklahoma City for some time. Now, they bring their version of punk, “Blue Velvet,” “Plan 9 from Outer Space” and occasional s-s-s-stammering, with just a dash of the twist scene from “Pulp Fiction,” up the turnpike to the only place they could play — or at least should play: Soundpony. 
Nov. 17 — Ozomatli at Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St.
If you were to get in a convertible and drive around Los Angeles with the top down, from Long Beach to Pasadena, from Santa Monica to the Chino Hills and all parts in between (especially east L.A.), your collective musical consciousness might most resemble the collected works of Ozomatli (“Ozo,” if you are too busy to go through the arduous task of adding those extra syllables).
The band’s last show here was at Dfest, and I was one of the lucky few (thousand) to catch Ozomatli’s particular brand of genius. Hip-hop, salsa, reggae, meringue, Indian raga and dancehall all influence these cultural ambassadors of the United States (as designated by the State Department in 2007).
The band’s manager was part of the musical conference at Dfest and, according to him, when Ozomatli first started, they “weren’t good.” But the band members played anything they could get invited to: protests, bar mitzvahs, quinceaneras, anything.
Now, Ozomatli is one of the best live bands in the world.
If you do not dance at this show, call 911; you might be clinically dead.
Nov. 20 — The Greencards with Rockin’ Acoustic Circus at All Soul Acoustic Coffeehouse, 2952 S. Peoria Ave.
This return engagement features not one but two of the fastest-rising acts on the bluegrass scene. Both bands have played All Soul Acoustic Coffeehouse before, and both are wanted for questioning by the Tulsa Fire Department for “intentional and wanton disregard for their scorching performances.” While this author realizes the word “bluegrass” summons images of Ned Beatty in “Deliverance” for some, there is an infinite beauty out of its simplicity that you may be missing out on because of some movie from 1972. It’s not just dueling banjos anymore.
The Greencards’ version of bluegrass involves three virtuosos (Carol Young on bass, Kym Warner on mandolin and Eamon McLaughlan on fiddle), and Young’s voice is reminiscent of Shawn Colvin. They are touring in support of their latest Sugar Hill release, “Fascination” — a gorgeous mix of bluegrass, gypsy, reggae and jazz.
