Inspired by the groundbreaking music of Chrome, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Portion Control, The Legendary Pink Dots, and others, Skinny Puppy experimented with electronic recording techniques and methods. the band composed multi-layered music generally using keyboards, synthesizers, found sounds, drum machines, live percussion, tape splices, samplers, and conventional rock music instruments. Whereas many contemporary remixes and re-edits of songs were created in order to make a song more suitable for dancing or different radio formats, Skinny Puppy approached remixing and re-editing as an artistic process of reinterpreting compositions, often using remixes to push their sound into styles of ambient, dub and techno. Skinny Puppy's often informal, improvisational approach to musical composition is indicated by use of the term brap, coined by them and defined as a verb meaning "to get together, hook up electronic instruments, get high, and record".
Skinny Puppy's first two proper releases, Bites and Remission, fall somewhere between the found-sound chaos of early Cabaret Voltaire and the abrasive, futuristic synthpop of the Units or Crash Course in Science. While the intense synth programming, abstract rhythms, and surreal samples--all Puppy trademarks--are present here, the albums owe as much to new wave as to industrial.
A subsequent EP, Chainsaw, featured a remix of Bites's "Assimilate" that earned the band some attention from club DJs. 1986's Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse earned Skinny Puppy greater attention, as "Dig It" and "Stairs and Flowers" became alternative club and college radio hits; the video for the former was played occasionally on MTV. The album is arguably less club-friendly than its predecessors, as the band continues to refine a claustrophobic, almost surreal sound that buries rhythm and melody. The follow-up, Cleanse, Fold, and Manipulate treads similar territory.
VIVIsectVI was a breakthrough for the band, with "Testure" becoming their biggest club hit to date, and the album itself was received warmly by college radio. The title of the album was a pun intended to associate vivisection with Satanism (ie. the "666 sect"). The album shows SP integrating more political and social themes: "Testure" is an animal rights song; "VX Gas Attack" concerns the use of chemical weapons; "State Aid" promotes sexual abstinence to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV.
Ogre had become very interested in Ministry and Al Jougensen's side projects, and he persuaded the rest of the band to allow Jourgensen to produce Rabies. While "Worlock" (a track Jourgensen didn't produce) remains an industrial club classic, the album was received coolly, as many thought Jourgensen's heavy metal guitar-based signatures did not compliment SP's more complex, intricate sonic sculptures. The band briefly disbanded afterward.
They reformed and returned to their electronic roots with Too Dark Park, a hallucinogenic album that owes as much to psychedelia as industrial music. Two years later, "Last Rights" covered similar territory, culminating in the epic sound sculpture "Download." Although their sound had moved away from industrial dance, these albums expanded the band's audience, and provided the template for many industrial bands of the 1990s.
Following "Last Rights", the band, poised for a major breakthrough in the wake of Nine Inch Nails' commercial success, left their longtime label Nettwerk for American Recordings. Their highly anticipated followup was unfortunately marred by personal tragedy - the death of Dwayne Goettel - and the band's inability to agree on a direction for the record. Numerous producers, including Martyn Atkins (PigFace/Invisible Records founder) and Roli Mosimann (Swans), came and went without success; finally the band regrouped with longtime collaborator Dave "Rave" Ogilvie to finish "The Process". The band expanded their range, working with gothic pop and heavy metal, alongside their familiar electronic textures. While seemingly rushed to completion following Goettel's death (it sounds half-finished in parts), it is an interesting change for the group. Unfortunately American Recordings, tired of waiting for the record, did little to promote it. Skinny Puppy broke up afterward.
With interests in filmmaking, they made a number of music videos, each attempting to further the theme and concept of the composition at hand. Most of these videos received little air play by major music video networks such as MTV (USA) and MuchMusic (Canada) and some were outright banned. For example the video for "Worlock" was universally banned because it is a "non stop gore fest" of clips from various horror movies. Because none of these clips were authorized for usage in the video it has never been commercially available.
Their concerts have been marked by their bizarre and bloody conceptual performance art, which for every concert was planned with the intention of challenging the notions of all who observed. Their music had some acceptance in dance clubs because of its danceable beats, but had little play on commercial radio. Skinny Puppy had little commercial success outside of Canada, but their influence on industrial music is immense.
The band began with the intention of doing something "raw" and "real." Ogre's vocals, one of Skinny Puppy's most recognizable features, are typically roughly growled snarls of half-sentences and fragmented stream of consciousness. Lyrical themes included animal rights, politics, religion, horror, drug abuse, disease, and environmental degradation; these themes were often lyrically and conceptually intertwined. Other core aspects of the Skinny Puppy sound include the mixture of heavy sampling and experimental noise with softer musical styles sometimes approaching synthpop.
Post-punk politics are a recurring theme utilised by Skinny Puppy. Some say the meaning of their name is that their music and lyrics give a view of the world from the eyes of a starving animal. They have long had an interest in animal rights; this is most obvious in their song Testure, which is about vivisection and other animal testing being scientific fraud. During many of their concerts Ogre would take the role of "scientist" and experiment on a stuffed animal. In 1988 they were arrested for their mocked-up vivisections, and found it ironic to be arrested for a parody of what was happening for real across the street from their concert. During their TGWOTR tour, criticism of the Bush regime was a recurring theme, particularly during their performance of VX Gas Attack, a song about atrocities perpetrated by Saddam Hussein, originally released while he was still considered an ally of the United States.
The last two studio albums are points of contention for old school Puppy fans. During the recording of The Process, the band broke up. Even more tragically, Dwayne Rudolph Goettel died, from an apparent heroin overdose at his parent's home, soon afterwards. Some people say that cEvin, Nivek, and Dwayne didn't connect as well on this album as they had earlier because their respective musical interests were diverging at the time, others claim it was the heroin.
Key and Ogre later reunited as Skinny Puppy for a one-off concert in Germany in 2003. Afterwards, they decided Skinny Puppy should continue as an ongoing project. The newly reconstituted Skinny Puppy released The Greater Wrong of the Right in 2004, their first studio album in 8 years, and have been continuing since, constantly evolving their sound.
There have been a number of Skinny Puppy side projects, both before, and after the breakup in 1995. The Tear Garden is a collaboration between cEvin and Edward Ka-Spel (and later most band members) of The Legendary Pink Dots. Other noteable side projects include Download, Hilt, Plateau, Cyberaktif (a collaboration between Key & Goettel and Bill Leeb, a.k.a. Wilhelm Schroeder), Rx (one-off collaboration between Ogre and Martin Atkins), ADuck (Goettel's side project), A CHUD Convention (one-off collaboration with a;GRUHM...), Ogre's contributions to Pigface, Ogre and Mark Walk's band ohGr and solo releases from cEvin Key.
Hexonxonx
Skinny Puppy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
regaining the weather acid rains so sweet sweat streaks downpour
on humidity colder time talking hints watching tests the heat mangled meat
retaliate no blaming in future dreams could you have stopped it
from happening best left spectator spectacle time spaced fast paced
farther down all that trigger guaging cause kills at will melted prophets book
burning how undone written slurs the meaning the past they will repeat
hard to hit so unbeat melting prophets the past melting undone misted
war or famine no where arid food growing warming trends a place passive
cows to feed the weak product waste give back nothing orders come in
make a million living things suffer hidden glad garbage body bag what
of that change that could save everything that paper shredder patent tender
puts us back in time again budgets that burst with oil crude gas in
purse no compassion common criminals seek asylum concrete pillow exxon dreams
hidden hiarchy no one in power taking blame
The lyrics to Skinny Puppy's song Hexonxonx are full of disturbing and thought-provoking imagery that speaks to themes of societal decay and ecological destruction. The lyrics paint a dystopian picture of a world ruled by corporations and plagued by environmental disasters. The image of "miles cable claws driller killer ripping holes tattered cloth stained" evokes a sense of industrial destruction and abuse of the natural resources, while "acid rains so sweet sweat streaks downpour" suggests a corrupt world where even nature has been tainted by pollution.
The lyrics also touch on themes of power and responsibility, asking the question "could you have stopped it from happening?" The lines "retaliate no blaming in future dreams" suggest a fatalistic worldview where there is no recourse for the sins of the past, and the only option is to move forward without blaming others. The imagery of "melted prophets book burning how undone written slurs the meaning" suggests a society that has lost touch with its roots and history, with even the most revered figures being cast aside and forgotten.
Line by Line Meaning
miles cable claws driller killer ripping holes tattered cloth stained
The violent and destructive machinery used in industry and technology causes damage and destruction to the natural world.
regaining the weather acid rains so sweet sweat streaks downpour
After damaging the environment with their actions, people are now experiencing the harmful consequences like acid rain, and are starting to sweat with fear and guilt from their actions.
on humidity colder time talking hints watching tests the heat mangled meat
As the world becomes more damaged, people are discussing and testing ways to adapt to the changes, but innocent and vulnerable beings like animals are being hurt in the process.
retaliate no blaming in future dreams could you have stopped it
There will be consequences for the damage done to the earth and future generations will question if they could have done anything to prevent it.
from happening best left spectator spectacle time spaced fast paced
The rapid pace of modern life and entertainment has made people more passive and accepting of the destruction of the environment.
farther down all that trigger gauging cause kills at will melted prophets book
The actions of people, their greed and negligence, are causing destruction that will lead to death and the end of the world, as prophesized by ancient texts.
burning how undone written slurs the meaning the past they will repeat
The history of environmental destruction is being ignored and repeated, with people burning and destroying important records and information.
hard to hit so unbeat melting prophets the past melting undone misted
It is difficult to stop the destructive cycle and prevent the end of the world, as the past patterns of destruction continue and the prophesized end seems inevitable.
fable role altogether mutating chains rattle happy to perform either
People and corporations have become blinded by profit and power, causing them to happily destroy the environment and mutate the natural world.
war or famine no where arid food growing warming trends a place passive
The destruction of the environment will lead to war and famine, as food and resources become scarce and the world becomes passive to the crisis.
cows to feed the weak product waste give back nothing orders come in
The construction of factory farms and the waste produced by consumerism are contributing to the destruction of the environment, with people valuing profit and convenience over ethics and sustainability.
make a million living things suffer hidden glad garbage body bag what
The consequences of environmental destruction are hidden and ignored, with countless innocent beings suffering and dying, and the waste produced by mass consumption ending up as garbage.
of that change that could save everything that paper shredder patent tender
There are solutions that could help prevent the destruction of the environment, but corporations and those in power are more interested in protecting their own profits and interests, even if it means destroying the world.
puts us back in time again budgets that burst with oil crude gas in purse
The continued reliance on fossil fuels and other harmful practices is setting the world back and causing irreversible damage to the environment.
no compassion common criminals seek asylum concrete pillow exxon dreams
Those responsible for environmental destruction have no compassion or concern for the future and are only interested in their own power and wealth, even if it means destroying the environment and causing widespread suffering.
hidden hierarchy no one in power taking blame
The individuals and corporations responsible for environmental destruction continue to hide behind lies and deny responsibility, while those in positions of power refuse to hold them accountable.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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