Skinny Puppy

Brandon Castillo4~ said:or an anal cunt😁

Exactly! Exactly! Exactly! 😁

np Naked Raygun - The Envelope

Domestic Violence is Really Really Really Funny
I Became a Counselor so I Could Tell Rape Victims They Asked for IT
I Sold Your Dog to a Chinese restaurant
All Our Fans are gay
If you don't like The Village People, you're Fucking gay
you're Fucking gay Walker
Texas Corpse Hitler
Was a Sensitive man The Guy Who Shot his Kid up with A. I. d. S. is Awesome you Were Too Ugly to Rape
You Were Too Ugly to Rape, so i Just beat The shit out of you

Just to be clear, I don't actually have any of their stuff, just the lyrics (though I doubt I'd need anything else 😁)

Every single Skinny Puppy album is top-tier, honestly. If I had to pick, I’d say 2 dark park and Last Rights are probably their most tight, cohesive works (though I think one might be missing track 10?). Rabies feels more like a collection of jam sessions with Al Jourgensen—lots of looped guitars in there, which isn't their usual vibe, but still a killer record, especially 2timegrime... Mind the Perpetual Intercourse hits that perfect sweet spot between standard EBM slogs (like FLA) and that "newer" industrial Dance style. Also, those old VHS music video collections are seriously haunting, especially the clip for "Killing gama"

Oh, and... the Doomsday live CD totally captures the raw energy of a Skinny Puppy show. It's beautiful...

There just isn't anyone else like them. Most other acts sound like cheap Eurotrash techno trying way too hard with vocal distortion. And don't even get me started on the lyrics. Honestly, the absolute worst of the bunch has to be Suicide Commando, oh god...
Hocico and Gridlock are the only ones I can take somewhat seriously; everything else is just... unspeakable

Of course, Ckey and Ogre kept busy with a ton of different "projects." The strongest by far is the Ckey/Phil Western/Edward Kaapela collab—Download—where all their albums feel like a direct evolution of the Skinny Puppy sound, especially the early stuff like "Furnace," "Eyes of Stanley Pain," and "Charlie's Family"

Ckey also puts out stuff under his own name. "Ghost of Each Room" is fantastic, though it doesn't really have much to do with the Skinny Puppy vibe anymore

Meanwhile, Ogre pivoted toward a slightly more "accessible" sound. He changed his name to ohgr (wow), probably cut his hair, and maybe chilled out on the heavy stuff a bit, because his albums "Welt" and SunnyPsyOp remind me so much of Nine Inch Nails during the Pretty Hate Machine era. It's almost funny—kind of progressive pop, kind of a joke, kind of both

Anyway, that's about it

There's also Tear Garden, Hilt, Plateau, and RX, but I don't really feel like typing all that out. You can find much better, deeper, and more detailed breakdowns over at the legendary

www.litany.net

🙂

Walter Adams60 said:That collection of music videos on VHS is genuinely haunting, especially that "Killing gama" video.

Yeah, absolutely.

I guess this isn't exactly the MTV Metal forum after all...

Maybe calling Suicide Commando or the FLA stuff "trash" is a bit harsh. Why trash? Fulber and Leeb basically laid the groundwork for the EMB-ELEKTRO-FLA sound. That doesn't automatically make everything they touch a masterpiece, sure, but they definitely left a mark, and that deserves respect. It’s not for nothing that "Caustic Grip" gets cited as one of the top seven EMB/industrial albums ever, and it always shows up on decent alternative best-of lists.
Or are you just a hardcore SP-fan at heart? 😉

Anyway, I really should give this new sound a closer listen. I've grabbed bits and pieces here and there, but sitting down with the full album might tell me more...

I gave up on downloading stuff pretty early on. First impressions seem to be the deciding factor most of the time. For some reason, it never really grabbed me. Either that, or I just wasn't in the right headspace. And money is never an issue, right?

Besides, I can't even remember the last time I actually treated myself to some decent audio...

By the way, were you actually old enough to experience SP and the club scene back in '88? Do you have that VHS?

Look, I wasn't trying to trash Leeb's contribution or anyone else in the EBM-Darkwave-industrial Dance scene. I was just venting about how unoriginal the whole thing feels lately. I mean, obviously, when some wannabe gothic DJ drops Suicide Commando or 👋Wumpscut at 2 AM in some club that’s overdoing the "uber-goth" and fur aesthetic, their impact on the subculture is pretty obvious. But honestly, it loses its charm once you actually look at the lyrics from Suicide Commando—not that I want to quote them, but it's all just stuff like, "Oh my god, what have we done, this is bad," you know? It's a caricature. Or take 👋: if you try to scratch beneath the surface of what they're doing, there's nothing there except some failed house-tech-drum-whatever DJs who think they're being "revolutionary" when they're really just recycling old clichés to satisfy the crowd in a slightly different way...

I avoid FLA/Leeb like a drunk avoids a pothole (honestly, better to hit a curb than end up with hypothermia in a ditch). Mostly because there's this universal rule that any REAL Skinny Puppy fan can't stand Leeb or FLA. Look, I'm a total sucker for them, I admit it, but let's be real: FLA just can't compete with Skinny Puppy in any way. Their stuff is too tied to conventional structures, whereas Skinny Puppy actually tries to tear those walls down. I've listened to maybe two FLA albums in total and decided there's no point forcing that music on my crashing serotonin levels when I've got much better stuff to connect with—not even say "identify with," because that sounds like some teen obsession. It's hard to explain the logic, but if there ever was a point, it's Skinny Puppy YES, Frontline Assembly NO... :-)

I get the whole money vs. music struggle. It makes sense. Buying a $50 CD is expensive as hell, but hey, some of us have a Chase checking account to offset that. Regardless, any true SP fan knows that tracks like "Eyes of Stany Pain" or "Furnace" will kick your adrenaline higher than any typical EMB-ELEKTRO-FLA nonsense ever could.

Anyway, I'll admit most of my cash goes toward mindless spending instead of investing in good music like I should.
Actually, the last decent album I bought was that Whitehouse - Thank Your Lucky Stars vinyl reissue.

It was worth it.
But there's ttoliko good music out there that you practically feel morally obligated to download it, or just pirate it because being broke is a reality. It's just human nature, American style...

I could probably write a thesis on Skinny Puppy and the rest, but since this is a serious forum, I'll keep my answer simple.

If I had the original VHS Skinny Puppy videos from '85-'92... man, that stuff is genius. As for meeting up, I'm always down for a deal.
per

email:

Walter Adams60@gmail.com

:-)

Man, listen.

I see how it is. It’s late, I’ve had a few drinks, and suddenly the stream of consciousness just takes over. You start thinking you’re absolutely right, perfectly logical. From your perspective—and honestly, from the perspective of every other idiot out there—you probably are.
But maybe it's just too narrow to look at the whole picture of what Frontline Assembly actually was. Maybe one single "wrong note" doesn't ruin the entire symphony... no harm done, right? 😉

Leeb and Cey split up because of those mysterious "creative differences or limitations." Between us, Cey always loved to experiment, while Leeb wasn't really built that way. Plus, as Agyar once explained on here, when Leeb first got into SP, he was musically and "technologically" illiterate. Still, he was always stomping around in the front row at every SP show, which is how he ended up getting sucked into the SP scene. Agyar, if you're still around, set me straight if I've got this wrong: 😁

And Cey? He was a god, obviously. To him, SP "weren't playing industrial, they invented it!" 🙂 That’s why the whole thing smells like Leeb's insecurities to me...
Nowadays, with stuff like Fruity Loops v. 3.0 (which is killer!) and a bunch of electronic nuances I don't even understand, you could whip up a soundtrack for something like "Matrix 4" that might actually beat the third one. By the way, I think someone from Juno Reactor worked on that. Damn, there are certain bands I always hesitate on—one hand holding a genius electro compilation, the other a Juno or maybe Das Ich (really feeling bad for the latter today).

Back then, anything using electrons without wasting them on guitars was considered weird, or at least by the mainstream and "other" crowds. SP was, without exaggeration, a global drug. Something similar was started by EBM pioneers in Europe, specifically Germany.
Generally speaking, people say everything back then was different than it is now. And looking back at old tracks like "Rhythms" or "Heroine" tells me the same thing...
New Wave was deeply rooted in a subculture that wasn't any less "out there" than what we have today. Everything that followed for years after enjoyed massive interest and approval. What other reason would SP have to tour some random agricultural country in the States back in '88?

Today, "alternative," "indie," and "independent" are basically synonymous with everything else.
I don't want to sound like a total fascist, but the distinction today is more desirable than ever. It means we finally get rid of those teen magazines that give you a ten-step guide on how to look like a goth, a punk, a raver, or a prep. And the absurdity of seeing someone like Mansun and Eminem sharing the same stage at the same time is just unbearable...
It all kills taste. It fuels this mindless "collector" mentality without being able to tell actual quality from garbage. If you scroll through this forum, you'll run into "horizons" so wide even the Dalai Lama couldn't span them. And they say he has a higher level of consciousness than most people on Earth...
People just swallow everything. You don't have to be closed off, of course, but it feels like global standards have just tanked...

Look, there are universal measures in life.
The same applies to music, which defines FLA as the forefathers of their genre. I didn't make that up, either; it was the big-shot critics at NME who were so captivated by the 80s indie scene that they put the FLA album "Gashed Senses and Crossfire" center stage. Along with "Caustic Grip," as I mentioned, FLA was placed alongside the most influential bands of the 80s. Obviously, in the same category as Jesus and Mary Chain or Pixies, not ABBA or Gazebo... 😉
It’s not for nothing that David Lynch likes them, alongside 242 and Manson (I'm not just blowing my own trumpet, am I?)😉 ), called them a "really interesting band." Even Cronenberg put them in the lineup for "Crash." 😉
It doesn't necessarily mean much, especially when paired with any other random chart qualification, but hey, it sounds great! 😉 Especially for me, seeing how everything else just goes straight to hell...

Look, Walter Adams60, my friend, there's no point in being narrow-minded—whether it's music, movies (I mean, what can I do if I don't get Bergman?! 😁), or those "heavier" topics like anything falling under national or religious frameworks. Regarding this forum, I get the "politicians," but even in the "parents and kids" sections, I run into gems who try to teach innocent American kids to hate? Honestly, it all goes to hell! Just look at this guy J...

I still feel like I need to apologize to the rest of the forum members because of this "two-person" setup. It felt inappropriate to reach out to Walter Adams60 via the provided email. Maybe I was hoping to attract some young guys to "our cause"... and I'm sure Walter Adams60 had similar intentions... 😉

Where is Cody?! 😉

Just trying to keep this thread alive so we stay on the first page of the "Music" section of the forum

hehehe

I really don't feel like getting into the whole Ckey debate; those topics have been chewed over a million times by anyone who actually knows their stuff. Personally, I don't think I've missed out on anything by ignoring FLA and that whole scene. My musical horizons aren't exactly narrow just because I skip them—honestly, I doubt Ckey can expand my world any more than someone like Stapleton from Nurse With Wound could.
:-)

Anyway, it's hard to pin down who exactly birthed industrial or how it all started. I feel like people put way too much pressure on Skinny Puppy with those claims that they "didn't play industrial, they invented it!" Because, man, come on.

Hold on a second, guys—I’ve got the tapes right here. I have proof that Throbbing Gristle was playing live as far back as '76. I can't be 100% sure about Einstürzende Neubauten, but I'm pretty sure they were already doing their thing before SP arrived. Of course, there's a massive list of bands you could claim "invented" industrial, but... why even bother?
The point is, Ckey himself said in an interview that while they tried to lean into more of an industrial-dance vibe with SP, rather than "pure" industrial (man, what a label that would be), he's fully aware there are bands out there making the real deal. He knows SP is doing something slightly different, which is obvious to anyone listening.

So, if you want to give Skinny Puppy credit, it's that they actually made industrial something you could play in clubs and get "the masses" interested in... hehe... unlike those obscure live sets performed in quarries, abandoned factories, or during miners' strikes (think Throbbing Gristle, Test Department, SPK, or Einstürzende Neubauten).
Basically, they brought industrial closer to us by wrapping it in a format that's actually listenable. Honestly, if I had to listen *only* to Peter Orridge's escapades, I'd probably hit terminal velocity faster than the soundscapes produced by zykloneBzombie.

Since this thread is specifically about SP, I won't go down a rabbit hole of deep analysis... but let's be real: a lot of stuff being hyped up today as "NEW and REVOLUTIONARY" has actually been around for over twenty years. And honestly, who cares if Nine Inch Nails and Reznor ripped off a little Ministry, a bit of fetal sounds, and a touch of Ckey to become the biggest "industrial" band of the modern era? It's nonsense; I wouldn't waste my energy on it.
Lynch is a special case. Manson acted in "Lost Highway," Reznor produced the soundtrack which even featured Coil—I think some of those "drones" in the movie were actually Coil, but I can't be certain.
All I know is that Reznor's Nothing label became the US distributor for Coil, which isn't a bad deal at all, especially for a band of Coil's caliber.

blah blah blah

Skinny Puppy is a unique band. Bryan Martin31, if we managed to pique the interest of even one single person through these debates, then we've done our job.

If you love it, great. If you don't, kiss it and leave it.

More for me, anyway.

hehehe

🙂

Peace out!

Susan Nguyen85 said:What else is even out there... Velvet Acid Christ? Is that the right name? I know I've listened to them before, but honestly, I can't even remember if I actually liked them or not.

Velvet Acid Christ is absolute perfection, especially the Church of Acid album. If that kind of sound hits the spot for you, you seriously need to check out Frontline Assembly if you haven't already—those guys are straight-up legends...

And let me tell you, if I met someone with this kind of taste in my small town outside of Chicago, there's no way it would happen...

Skinny Puppy? A friend of mine used to be obsessed with them—personally, I thought they were alright, but nothing to write home about. Then my guy goes and burns me a CD with Cult on it and I was just left 😲 It’s been ages since I’ve heard anything that good 🙏

Sadly, I think that's the only one like it. Man, if only they had made an entire album that 😢

Susan Nguyen85 said:So, I have Last Rights, and the standout track for me is definitely Killing gama because of that intro. I'm looking for something even darker than that—does SP have any other albums that lean harder into that atmosphere?

They are all dark...
And one even has a dark title (plus a pretty disturbing cover) — Too Dark Park...
And it’s exceptionally good....

Agyar said:There’s another crew across town screaming his name, but honestly, his stuff just doesn't sit right with me...

If you are actually looking for something dark, why not give Hocico, yelworC, or Suicide Commando a listen? Even Wumpscut fits that vibe perfectly. Or, better yet, just show up during the first month of the year when they host the dark Electra listening sessions again; you'll get a real sense of the variety available.

And where exactly is this dark electro listening lounge located, and who is actually running the playlist??

analogseal39 said:everything is just so dark...
and one guy even has a dark name (plus a pretty twisted cover) - Too Dark Park...
and he’s actually incredible....

Hehe, this thread was started ages ago, back when I only owned Last Rights. Now, thank God, I have the whole collection. That Too Dark Park stuff is killer... and The Process too, etc.

It has been over a decade since I last listened to them,
but the other day I happened to spin one of their CDs and was pleasantly surprised by the experience.
It is remarkable how fresh and original they still sound after all this time...

They are quite simply fantastic.... 🙂

I currently own seven of their full-length albums and four of their singles...
it seems I am missing a few smaller pieces of their discography.
Does anyone happen to have their work available in any digital format? Whether it be CD or MP3?

What are your thoughts on Skinny Puppy?

SP are gods, sure, but you? After those posts about Thompson, you’re just acting weird, analogseal39... no offense intended, but you can't drop Thompson and EBM/industrial in the same breath without ending up with nothing but confusion. If you actually consider yourself an electro fan, what else is there to conclude?
😎

The latest album is a must-have for any SP devotee. I've been trying to track down a copy for months now, but no luck. Just don't have the cash right now... 😢

Bryan Martin31 said:SP are gods, sure, but you, analogseal39, are just plain bizarre after those posts about Thompson. No offense, but you can't mention Thompson in the same breath as EBM/industrial without drawing certain conclusions about his music. If you truly consider yourself an electro fan, there is only one way to look at it...
😎

The latest album is a must-have for any SP fan. I’ve been trying to get my hands on it for months now, but I just haven't had the cash... 😢

As for being a weirdo? Fine. To you eccentrics, I'm the most normal person alive, but to "normal" people, I'm probably the strangest creature they've ever encountered...
So where am I supposed to place myself?

I will admit, though, that I listen to Thompson, Skinny Puppy, Doris Day, The Sisters of Mercy, Leather Strip, Eminem, Vomito Negro, The Shamen, and Robbie Williams with the exact same level of fanatic 🙂 zeal...

I realize how jarring that sounds to everyone... but what can I do? It all resonates with me equally...

As for Thompson, based on my limited knowledge, I can conclude only one thing: he seems like a great guy, and his songs are incredibly energetic and sincere. I genuinely enjoy both the lyrics and the melodies... 🙂
But that belongs in a different thread...

And don't go thinking I only listen to Skinny Puppy superficially. I can actually boast—if you can call this silly fact a boast—that I know most of their lyrics by heart... 🙂 And we both know it's impossible to memorize them (in their case) unless you are absolutely obsessed with listening to them constantly... wouldn't you agree?
😉

analogseal39 said:though I have to admit, I listen to Thompson, Skinny Puppy, Doris Day, The Sisters of Mercy, Leather Strip, Eminem, Vomito Negro, The Shamen, and Robbie Williams with the exact same (fanatical 🙂) intensity...

Good grief. 😕 So you’re into both Doris Day and Leather Strip? Look, at least you've realized you're a weirdo, so let's just leave it at that... 😁

analogseal39 said:as for Thompson, I can only conclude one thing (based on my somewhat superficial knowledge): he's a great guy, and his songs are incredibly energetic and sincere. I really dig them... both the lyrics and the melodies... 🙂

Good grief.
😕

It's off-topic, sure, but I wonder how CEVin would react to finding out one of his fans respects his work just as much as someone who sang about riots and called for a state governed by fascist laws and whatnot...

Kudos to you for memorizing those lyrics. It takes effort. Especially if you were actually capable of "downloading" all those CEVin screams back before Google made everything so easy... 🙂

Bryan Martin31 said:It’s off-topic, but I wonder how CEVin would react if he found out one of his fans respects his work just as much as the music of a man who sang about Max’s massacres—a man whose songs evoke a state governed by fascist laws and such...

I have to hand it to you for memorizing those lyrics; it takes real dedication. Especially if you were actually capable of sitting there, long before Google made everything easy, listening to and absorbing all those CEVin screams... 🙂

Max’s massacres and a state fueled by fascist propaganda? To me, that sounds like the kind of propaganda we were forced to swallow for forty-five years...
I would argue instead that it was a state trying to prevent Great Mexican dominance and so on... I know quite a bit about this, but that is a political discussion, and I have already covered that elsewhere...

Back to the topic,
maybe even CEVin and Nivek would actually dig Thompson 🙂 if they decided to sample him... hehehe...

As for the lyrics, it wasn't about willpower; I simply listened to them so much in the early nineties that I eventually realized I knew most of the lines by heart. Some I read off the CD covers, while others I stumbled upon online back in the days when people were still using Lynx 🙂 and I can tell you, you could find a surprising amount of stuff back then...
And now, one day, while I was playing Too Dark Park and Tormentor, the words just flooded back into my mind: "walls trapped whitin yellow eyes cutters drooling face rips apart cuts to the heart..." 🙂

It seems like analogseal39 has a bit of an obsession with anything black—I guess even Doris Day counts, given the hair color... maybe.

Actually, now that I’m looking at it—The Sisters of Mercy and Thompson share a pretty similar vibe, both musically and visually. Sure, Thompson threw in some North American folk influences to spice things up, but seeing how much the guy loves both, it doesn't surprise me one bit anymore...

analogbear40 said:It seems MisterNo has a massive thing for anything black—I suppose Doris Dragović counts since she has black hair...

Actually, looking at it more closely, Sisters of Mercy and Thompson are pretty similar both musically and visually... sure, Thompson added a bit of North American folk flair to his style, but now I’m not even surprised he enjoys both so much...

Well, you aren't wrong there... 🙂
Aside from that North American folk bit... there is folk music, and then there is that specific tension where everything is labeled as "North American" just to claim ownership (like San Francisco Autonomous Region, or the North American Orthodox Church, and now apparently North American folk...)

And yes, Doris does have black hair... and she’s still quite the stunner at 43... 😉

analogseal39 said:Massacres, butchers, and a government peddling fascist propaganda—that’s what I consider the kind of propaganda we were forced to swallow for 45 years...
I’d frame it differently. It was a state trying to dodge certain types of regional dominance, etc., etc. I know plenty about it, but that’s a political discussion, and I’ve already covered my ground there...

Thompson actually sang about those butchers; it’s documented, performed in front of hundreds of witnesses...
Fine, save that for politics. I view that whole era's politics as fascist, but you don't. You're wrong, but hey, live and let live...

analogseal39 said:Maybe even cEvina and Nick would dig Thompson🙂 even if they sampled him... hehehe...

I doubt they’d care for Thompson. His background would probably turn them off, for sure. Because Skinny Puppy, besides being hardcore activists against animal testing and corporate pollution, also preach international, interfaith, and interracial tolerance.
It’s Thompson versus those last three...

analogseal39 said:It wasn't a choice regarding the lyrics; I just listened to them so much in the early nineties that I eventually realized I knew most of the lines by heart... I used to read some of the text off the CD covers and

Yeah, though the vinyl releases were a bit more stripped down... 😉

The web is full of them now, but I still think they're the gold standard.
SP