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.
Shore Lined Poison
Skinny Puppy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Base the fire gold pouring mercury life
Given river deformed in amongst patient
Building raise an urgent call reformation
Strike the picking miners claw kick my ass
Waste the given gift the natural cure
In the age of reason gone bad morning in
Between the cold stone ashes fall upon the
Wretched chosen ones 100 megatons evaporate
Those chosen vaporize case in point and
Deserving it vaccinate all stranger than whispering
Crushed velvet corpse grind awaiting
Underneath mask unneeded decisions come
From one side of the brain insolent dented
Fibers optic looks the world of growth
Fleeting image ghost destruction t.v.screen
The lyrics to Skinny Puppy's song Shore Lined Poison reflect the feelings of frustration and despair that come with witnessing the destruction of nature at the hands of humanity. The opening lines describe the suffocating effect of oil spills on the ocean, with "trials administer tidal oil" referring to the experiments and tests done on oceans to measure the extent of pollution. The next two lines speak of the destructive pursuit of wealth and power, with "base the fire gold pouring mercury life" referencing the use of mercury in gold mining and its harmful effects on life. The following lines describe the deformity and pollution of rivers caused by human activity, and the urgent need for reform.
The second verse continues with a condemnation of humanity's destructive tendencies, with "wretched chosen ones 100 megatons evaporate" describing the devastating effects of nuclear weapons. The line "vaccinate all stranger than whispering" suggests a fear of outsiders and the unknown, and the following lines speak of the coldness and detachment of decision-making in society. The reference to "fibers optic looks" suggests the reliance on technology and media to shape our perception of the world, even as it leads to destruction.
Line by Line Meaning
Trials administer tidal oil that suffocating
The testing of the effects of massive amounts of oil on marine life is suffocating and overwhelming.
Base the fire gold pouring mercury life
The depletion of resources, such as gold and mercury, to fuel industrialization and progress, leads to a toxic existence.
Given river deformed in amongst patient
The pollution and destruction of natural environments, such as rivers, directly affect the health and well-being of those who depend on them.
Building raise an urgent call reformation
The construction and development of society needs to promote change and reform to address the destruction and harm that it has caused.
Strike the picking miners claw kick my ass
The exploitation of workers and their labor, especially in dangerous and unhealthy conditions, is unacceptable and must be stopped.
Waste the given gift the natural cure
The use of natural resources, such as plants for medicine, is being wasted and destroyed in the face of industrialization and profit.
In the age of reason gone bad morning in
Even with the advancements in human knowledge and technology, society is still facing darkness and destruction.
Between the cold stone ashes fall upon the
In the midst of death and destruction, people face the cold and harsh reality of a world ravaged by industrialization and war.
Wretched chosen ones 100 megatons evaporate
The people who have been chosen, or forced, to suffer the effects of nuclear weapons and war, have seen devastating consequences on a massive scale.
Those chosen vaporize case in point and
The destruction caused by nuclear war is exemplified by the vaporization of entire cities and populations.
Deserving it vaccinate all stranger than whispering
The harm and destruction caused by industrialization and war is deserving of condemnation, and people need to be more vocal and take action against it.
Crushed velvet corpse grind awaiting
The destruction and death caused by war and industrialization is senseless and cruel and has left in its wake a multitude of suffering individuals and communities.
Underneath mask unneeded decisions come
The decisions made by those in power often hide their true intentions and motivations, causing unnecessary harm and destruction.
From one side of the brain insolent dented
Even those who have knowledge and power can make destructive and harmful decisions and actions.
Fibers optic looks the world of growth
The growth and development of society has been driven by technology and progress, often at the cost of natural resources and the environment.
Fleeting image ghost destruction t.v.screen
The depiction of war and destruction in media can be fleeting and superficial, not accurately portraying the true consequences and impact on those affected by it.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind