This is bizarre, but this yet another example of the influence of David Oberdoester. I should really call him up and tell him what an impact he's had on my musical tastes.
So what can I say about Skinny Puppy? I don't think I could possibly introduce anyone to Skinny Puppy. If it is something you would like, then you would certainly already know about them. If you haven't heard of Skinny Puppy, I would bet you're not going to like it.
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial act. I went through a minor industrial phase under the influence of Oberdoester. And by minor, I mean only two acts, Skinny Puppy and Throbbing Gristle. Three if you count Ministry. But I would say that Ministry is on the most accessible side of the industrial spectrum. Throbbing Gristle on the other end. Skinny Puppy is about in the middle. Some of their work is acceptable and some of it is pretty far out there.
So the industrial sound, and Skinny Puppy's sound, is marked by the often experimental use of electronic sounds for music. It also features prominent drum beats, often electronic drum sounds. Skinny Puppy mixes drum machine sounds with conventional percussion sounds. And by conventional percussion sounds, I pretty much mean banging on things. The voice of Kevin Ogilvie, listed in album credits as Nivek Ogre, is a key part of the Skinny Puppy sound. It is often more spoken word style than singing, soaked in effects that distort and echo its sound, and it comes off as a stream of consciousness rant more than lyrics. But they are lyrics nonetheless. And they have a point. They are often political, targeting animal abuse, environmental destruction, corrupt administration, and mainstream ignorance. But I think my favorite part of industrial music, and Skinny Puppy in particular, is the sampling. From sampling music to throwing in odd clips of people speaking, it really appeals to me. (My favorite SP song features a sample from a Bugs Bunny cartoon. It's so great.)
The first track on this record, "Convulsion," is a perfect example. The song opens with sound oscillating back and forth between left and right speakers. (This really stands out when you listen in headphones, which I like to do when I'm researching for this blog. Headphones reveal the sound as clear as it can possibly be. It's always been my favorite way to listen to music.) It is electronic percussion sounds and noise. Then a sample. "He's seeing monsters. He's losing his mind and he feels it going." Ogre's lyrics are typically distorted. Although Skinny Puppy songs don't really have a conventional verse-chorus structure, what I would call the chorus of this song is Ogre's scream of, "Hate disease." I call it the chorus only because he repeats it a few times. At the end of the song, a scream echoes behind another sample of the same voice from the beginning, this time saying, "He is intensely, extremely, terribly uncomfortable."
The next couple of tracks, "Tormentor" and "Spasmolytic," lean more toward the techno side of industrial. Both feature a more recognizable rhythm that is almost dance-able. "Spasmolytic" lyrics appear to be about drug addiction. The chorus, again what I would call the chorus only because it's repeated, is, "Kicking the habit." Here's a glimpse at Ogre's stream of consciousness style:
Making time in a low rent highrise
no place to go downtown crushing crucifixion
particles aching harmful descent take a shot and hide
subway slam dance stale mattress slow throb bloating
These lyrics come from the liner notes. By simply listening, some of the lyrics are indecipherable because of the distorting effects.
The environmental theme appears several times on this record in songs like "Shoreline Poison" and "Nature's Revenge." And my favorite on the record, "Morpheus Laughing," which opens with the line, "An extreme solution no fossil fuel mimicking exhaust..." Ogre's voice is great on this one. The metallic percussion noises clearly illustrate the influence that SP had on Nine Inch Nails. Oh, I forgot about them earlier. I guess that's a fourth industrial band in my collection. But NIN is even farther to the popular side of the industrial spectrum. I have to admit that turns me away. The music snob in me.
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