Perhaps more than any band in existence, Skinny Puppy remains essential to our fandom and understanding of Our Thing. Beyond their critical function in the history of industrial post the initial explosion, this week’s Mount Rushmore conversation focuses on SP’s personal impact on us and how they help define Vancouver for I Die: You Die. From local mythology to personal flashpoints to the enduring strength of their work, we’re talking about everything that makes Puppy who they are, and by extension a good part of what makes us who we are. Brap on ad infinitum. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Play Music, download directly or stream from the widget down below.
WHaT 154: The Mount Rushmore Conversations – Skinny Puppy
Great podcast guys.
Skinny Puppy hold a special place in my heart. I am a fan of all different genres. Because of that I was never able to dig too deep into one particular genre but Skinny Puppy led to Industrial being probably my favorite genre and exploring it deeper than any other. I discovered SP at the end of their first iteration. I was in high school in the early 90s. I was certainly aware of Industrial through NIN, which I like(d) a lot but never led me to dig deeper. I was more into the mainstream Alternative and Techno music of the time. The first time I remember actually hearing SP was on a mix tape one of my friends made for me. It had Warlock and Testure on it and I remember kind of liking them but thinking they were a bit too harsh/out there for my taste and I forgot about them for a while. However, another Industrial band caught my attention at the time called Circle of Dust (Klayton of Celldweller/Scandroid’s first project). The vocals were a bit more accessible but it was still heavy as fuck. I am agnostic but I grew up in a Christian household and I became aware of CoD through some friends at my church. CoD was way under the radar because he was on a Christian label (he has said that was the only label offering a deal at the time). And while his albums had some religious connotation they were hardly preachy and I didn’t mind because the music was so good. It was more Industrial Metal than SP but I caught a live show once and he was wearing a SP shirt. So I tried giving SP another chance but I still just couldn’t get into it. After I graduated in 94 I was an exchange student in New Zealand. Somehow the Inquisition single my brother had found a way to make the trip with me. I lived in a rural area and would have to walk several miles to the closest village which gave me plenty of time of to listen to my Discman. The Inquisition extended mix made it into heavy rotation on my walks, which I could get into due to the more techno style of the mix that tickled my electronica fancy. Whenever I hear it now I have vivid memories of those walks taking in the NZ countryside while listing to it. Eventually Ogre’s vocal style grew on me enough that when I got back to the States I got the 12″ Anthology. The Dig It and Testure 12″ mixes became some of my favorite tracks and I picked up The Process when it came out, which I liked a lot (I think it is probably their most underrated album). Eventually I picked up all of their earlier stuff and the rest is history. While there are many Artists/Bands I like a lot If I had to pick one as a favorite it would probably be SP. Personally I put everything from The Process and earlier on about the same level but Too Dark Park is probably my top (I used to fall asleep to it playing in the background). Not to say I don’t like the newer stuff, I do enjoy it, but it just doesn’t compare to the earlier stuff for me.
Anyway, thanks for the nice ode to a great band.
btw, Blue Moon Blood just dropped on Statiqbloom’s bandcamp page, which sucks b/c I preordered from the label’s page and they haven’t released it yet. But I’m streaming it on his page and so far it sounds like it could be one of the best albums of the year. Definitely has some Puppy flavor mixed in.
So, time for me to give my ‘dirty millennial’ story! In ’04 when I was a Freshman in high school, I became friends with another kid who gave me a mix CD of a bunch of random tracks. One of those tracks was ‘Pro-Test’ by Skinny Puppy. I remember really digging it and tracked down “Greater Wrong of the Right”. I really enjoyed that album, so I decided to try and track down some of Skinny Puppy’s older material. Unfortunately, at the time my ears and musical sensibilities told me that the older material was too noisy for my taste. So, I kind of just stopped listening to Skinny Puppy.
It wasn’t until well after Mythmaker came out (I believe I first listened to that album in ’08 or ’09 while I was in college) that I gave them another shot. Mythmaker was kind of lackluster in my opinion, but I decided to take another look back at their older material. By then I had started to listen to music that was sonically challenging to listen to (Power Noise, Rhythmic Noise, etc). I clearly remember that the first song I sampled from their back-catalogue was ‘Killing Game’ off of Last Rights. That was when my true appreciation for Skinny Puppy’s older material was born. I was utterly entranced and that’s when I started hunting down their previous albums.
While it’s very difficult for me to say that I have a favorite album of theirs since I have grown to appreciate them each in their own way, I find that the one I listen to the most front to back is “Ain’t It Dead Yet?”. Admittedly though, “Greater Wrong…” still has a special place in my heart as my first SP album.
I dream of seeing them one of these days, as the two opportunities I had were while I was recovering from cancer treatments that I felt to ill from to attend. BUT, ironically, I will be seeing ohGr live first when they come through town with KMFDM in October. Since I really enjoy ohGr as well, I’m rather looking forward to that show.
As an afterthought, I think what appeals to me about “Ain’t It Dead Yet?” is the fact that it was from a live performance. I’ve always really enjoyed the sound of SP live, which factors in why they’re currently at the top of my list of bands that I want to see play in concert.