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.
Ovirt
Skinny Puppy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like some ill bought warranty selfish terms to suit the day
Before the shady last decision shameless squanders nose and vision
Off towards that well bought place to spite the nose right in your face
Look inside that dirty hole what is there left overthrown
Over there nothing is known another place to dig that hole
What's inside that mighty mountain hollow is the core alive
Makeshift plans to take control of you're the island no one flies to
Waiting for the understanding never coming to your land
Look inside your eyes behold back toward what's over ? sold
Over there is nothing grown over here is over ? gone
Who's been making feeling faking all that stutters left beside
Churning fast stir the fat and kills you while it's sleepless
Who knows who the thief is
His truth is in the secret
It's something you believe in
Come away and fall with me
Go away and falter
The lyrics of Skinny Puppy's song "Ovirt" are densely packed with vivid and enigmatic imagery, as well as a critique of society's penchant for making excuses and manipulating truths in order to serve its own interests. The opening lines paint a picture of hands "shrink[ing]" and "extending service" in the form of "ill bought warranty selfish terms" that are custom-tailored to "suit the day." This suggests a cynical and manipulative mindset that prioritizes self-interest over honesty and ethical behavior.
As the song proceeds, it offers a biting commentary on the ways in which people will go to great lengths to obscure the truth and avoid taking responsibility for their actions. The line "before the shady last decision shameless squanders nose and vision" seems to suggest that those in power are willing to make unethical decisions that jeopardize the well-being of others, while at the same time blinding themselves to the consequences of their actions. In the end, this behavior leads them to "that well bought place to spite the nose right in your face," a turn of phrase that suggests a kind of arrogant, spiteful disregard for others.
The chorus of "Ovirt" is a haunting and powerful call to action, urging listeners to "look inside that dirty hole" and seek out the truth that lies within. The line "what is there left overthrown" suggests that there is a sense of chaos and upheaval in the world, as if the old order has been tossed aside and replaced by something new and unknown. The song concludes with a plea for understanding, as the singer implores us to "come away and fall with me" and seek out a deeper truth that transcends the lies and deceptions that surround us.
Line by Line Meaning
We have found in past excuses shrinking hands extending service
We have come across reasons that make us withdraw our help and support
Like some ill bought warranty selfish terms to suit the day
These reasons are usually motivated by selfish and short-term interests, like a deceitful product warranty
Before the shady last decision shameless squanders nose and vision
These reasons can lead to regretful choices that are based on greed and blindness
Off towards that well bought place to spite the nose right in your face
We might head towards material and superficial gains, even if it means acting against our own interests
Look inside that dirty hole what is there left overthrown
We should examine the aftermath of past actions, and the consequences of our past decisions
Over there nothing is known another place to dig that hole
However, this examination might bring up more uncertainties and new problems to solve
Mumbled like the clever clueless building moles to hills that throw off
People use obscure and confusing language to build impressive-sounding arguments, but often lack true understanding
What's inside that mighty mountain hollow is the core alive
There might be hidden, vulnerable parts inside what appears to be robust and strong
Makeshift plans to take control of you're the island no one flies to
We might resort to spontaneous and desperate strategies to feel in charge, even if nobody else cares about us
Waiting for the understanding never coming to your land
We might feel like nobody understands us, and struggle to receive support and connection from others
Look inside your eyes behold back toward what's over ? sold
We should search within ourselves for wisdom and insight, and reconsider what we might have given up or lost
Over there is nothing grown over here is over ? gone
Some places might lack life and vitality, while other places might feel too far and unreachable
Who's been making feeling faking all that stutters left beside
We might wonder who is responsible for our confusing and insincere emotions and expressions
Churning fast stir the fat and kills you while it's sleepless
This confusion and insincerity can create anxiety and exhaustion, and harm our well-being and peace of mind
Who knows who the thief is
We might not be able to identify the root of our problems, and who or what is taking from us
His truth is in the secret
The truth behind our struggles might be hidden and hard to uncover
It's something you believe in
Despite the challenges and uncertainties, we might find solace in something we truly believe in
Come away and fall with me
We might invite others to join us in our journey of self-discovery, even if it means making mistakes and falling
Go away and falter
Alternatively, we might need to get away from others and focus on our own path, even if we might stumble and falter along the way
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
UFO Detective
Love ALL Skuppy albums. There is no band like them.
BroodX
https://youtube.com/channel/UCpUvCfNpyAPd_RrKAVHYDjg
Daniel
This album gets better over time, with repeated listens. (y)
Dana Baker
some of the best skinny out ever....so old school...OhGr is incredible as always. Absolute masterpiece as always
BroodX
@Barni Zart Old school 80s 90s style jams here.
New Old School
https://youtu.be/rhBPLWg8Hno
Barni Zart
hmm not that convindced that it sounds old school, tbh, i have all the albums, listened to them to no end back when they came out, and to be honest this seems a little more toned down / mellow in comparison.
photondance
+sleestakattack It is reminiscent of previous work, done in the eighties.
That is how. 🙂
sleestakattack
+Dana Baker How is 2011 "old school"?
Casey Campbell
Yeah!!!!!! The new album is unbelievable, and it starts with ROOTS Skinny Puppy!!!! Buy it, people...
Hex Envy
I think they should make next album with the same gear they used on Last Rights just for the hell of it