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.
Social Deception
Skinny Puppy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Each cry
Passing incandescent creatures
Dark recess
Living is hot
To retort
(?Haunted seek prevent?)
Evaporate
No truth
Conform, conform, conform, con-
Conflate in the forest
Everything that's hot
It's melody
Morality, morality
It's him the beast
Forest creeps
Steep rocks
The paws bleed
Waving her
A cold rabies whir
Seeking a gut clench
Best prolong the dread
The fiends set upon him
To tear to pieces
Him heart to hide
Eyes feeling
Credibly rapidly
Definitive bits
Contemplate edify my grace
Blood (peaks/beaks?)
Skinny Puppy's song Social Deception speaks about societal pressure and the idea of conformity towards predetermined norms. The opening lines of the song "Elladonna, each cry, passing incandescent creatures, dark recess" is potentially a reference to a hallucinogenic drug experience. In this context, the drug may represent a coping mechanism for the pressures of conformity as mentioned later in the song. The line "Living is hot" suggests that living life is tough and has become challenging because of the enormous amount of pressure caused by societal expectations. The phrase "To retort" is a call to action, a pushback against the way things are, and the status quo.
The song also touches on the idea of morality and how societal conformity impacts it. The line "Morality, morality, it's him the beast" is a reference to how the societal norms of morality behave as an oppressive force lurking within society waiting for people who resist its codes. The reference to the "forest creeps" and "steep rocks" indicates that these societal forces are insurmountable barriers to some, making it difficult to oppose or contest them.
The final lines of the song, "Definitive bits, contemplate edify my grace, blood (peaks/beaks?)" point to the idea of transcendence. This transcendence may come in the form of actual physical sacrifice or rebirth through mental transcendence. In both possibilities, it speaks to the idea of rising beyond social pressures and ridding oneself of the conformity that dominates life.
Line by Line Meaning
Elladonna
Possibly a reference to the drug Atropa Belladonna, commonly known as deadly nightshade, which can cause hallucinations and delirium.
Each cry
The individual suffering of humans.
Passing incandescent creatures
People who seem to be glowing with a false light, leading others down a path of lies.
Dark recess
A hidden, secretive corner of society where darker deeds take place.
Living is hot
Life can be intense and overwhelming.
To retort
To respond with anger or frustration.
(?Haunted seek prevent?)
This line is difficult to interpret without more context. It may refer to trying to avoid being haunted or chased after by something.
Evaporate
To disappear or fade away.
Teaching nothing new
Education systems that fail to challenge students or provide new learning experiences.
No truth
A world where truth is subjective or nonexistent.
Conform, conform, conform, con-
Society's demand to fit in and follow the norm, until the individual loses themselves in the process.
Conflate in the forest
An image of people getting lost in the 'forest' of society's expectations and rules, to the point where they all blur together into one.
Everything that's hot
Things that are popular and exciting in the moment but ultimately meaningless or destructive.
It's melody
A critique of popular music that values catchy tunes over meaningful lyrics or messages.
Morality, morality
A cry for more ethical behavior and values in society.
It's him the beast
An image of an oppressive force or person that controls the oppressed.
Forest creeps
People who hide in the forest, perhaps as part of a rebellion or secret society.
Steep rocks
Obstacles or challenges that are difficult to overcome.
The paws bleed
The toll that resistance or rebellion takes on the individual.
Waving her
A woman or feminine figure who is either leading the way forward or calling attention to something important.
A cold rabies whir
A sense of panic or disease that spreads uncontrollably.
Seeking a gut clench
A desire for more intense, visceral experiences that challenge the individual.
Best prolong the dread
The temptation to keep indulging in negative emotions or experiences, even if they are damaging.
The fiends set upon him
An attack from the oppressive forces or people in power.
To tear to pieces
The intention or outcome of destroying the person or group who resists oppression.
Him heart to hide
The fear or necessity of hiding one's true feelings and identity to avoid punishment or retribution.
Eyes feeling
Living with intense emotions and sensations that can be overwhelming.
Credibly rapidly
The rapid spread of a dangerous idea or movement.
Definitive bits
The small, seemingly insignificant moments or details that can have major impacts on the course of events.
Contemplate edify my grace
Asking for guidance and enlightenment to be a better, more compassionate person.
Blood (peaks/beaks?)
This line is difficult to interpret without more context. It may refer to the violence or brutality of rebellion and resistance.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind