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.
Tin Omen
Skinny Puppy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
out war dance what a ride inner thought of non violent rebellion outside
dare to die stand and fight show faith return all the weapons
government says use them right fixed action set in motion doubting amnesia
potion what to hide red carpet ride guessing right the jokes on
dark corner the square you bath once a week distorted the viewpoint
seldom seen wayback in 68 ohio kent state was nothing so great have of
have not forcing the point shot in the back take it back down trod soldier
known one by one they'll be coming down altogether sister machine gun
automatic high what a ride what a trip tripped over the candlestick tanks
arrive fire wall got to keep the camera alive tell the world
what's going on here warning shots are fired at the stomach chest wound
coed falls amped out amped out changing guns for brooms the guards change
to clean up crews way back in 68 every thing was so great no way wrong
date keep up the trade balanced charade close circuit truth used to
remove keep the camera alive
The lyrics to Skinny Puppy's "Tin Omen" describe the chaos and confusion of a society in turmoil due to government oppression and violence. The first line, "Every truncheon hits misguided," evokes an image of police brutality against peaceful protesters who are fighting for a united cause. The reference to the "peoples army" being divided suggests that even those who are fighting for the same cause become fragmented and disorganized in the midst of the chaos.
The lyrics also reference the idea of non-violent rebellion, with the line "inner thought of non violent rebellion outside." The singer seems to be torn between the desire to stand up and fight, as seen in the line "dare to die stand and fight," and the hope for a peaceful solution, as seen in the line "show faith return all the weapons." The government's insistence on using weapons only "right" implies that they are not using them in a fair or just way, further fueling the rebellion.
The line "wayback in 68 ohio kent state was nothing so great" references the controversial shooting of unarmed protesters at Kent State University in 1970. The singer seems to be suggesting that even in the face of such tragedy, society has not learned its lesson and continues to perpetuate violence against those who are fighting for change.
Overall, the lyrics to "Tin Omen" paint a picture of a society on the brink of collapse due to government oppression and violence, with those fighting for change torn between peaceful protest and violent resistance.
Line by Line Meaning
every truncheon hit misguided
The authorities' use of force is misplaced and does not serve any real purpose.
the peoples army divided united stance
The people who are fighting against the authorities have different opinions about how to approach the situation, but need to come together under a common cause.
amped out war dance what a ride
Despite the difficulty of the struggle, there is an energy and excitement that comes with standing up against oppression.
inner thought of non violent rebellion outside
The desire for change and rebellion can be kept private, even if the outward actions are not necessarily nonviolent.
dare to die stand and fight show faith
Bravery and faith are needed to continue the fight and stand up against injustice, even if it comes at a great personal cost.
return all the weapons government says use them right
The government may encourage the use of weapons to maintain control, but these same weapons can also be used to resist and fight back.
fixed action set in motion doubting amnesia potion what to hide
The authorities have a set plan in place to maintain their power, but they rely on people forgetting or ignoring past injustices to continue on with this plan.
red carpet ride guessing right the jokes on
The authorities may seem glamorous or powerful, but they are not invincible and can be beaten through skill and luck.
dark corner the square you bath once a week
Even those who appear powerless or down on their luck can be strong and capable of change. Physical appearance does not always correlate with inner strength.
distorted the viewpoint seldom seen
The authorities may present a skewed or biased version of events, making it difficult for the public to understand the truth of a situation.
wayback in 68 ohio kent state was nothing so great
Past rebellions or movements may not have been perfect, and there is always room for improvement and growth in the present.
have of have not forcing the point
The struggle against oppression often stems from a divide between those who have power and those who do not. This divide must be acknowledged and addressed to move towards true equality.
shot in the back take it back down trod soldier away
Those who fight back against the authorities are often met with violence and retaliation. However, this should not stop people from continuing to push for change and resistance.
flower power within kill me kill this way of life and be known
The desire to fight against oppression can be a powerful motivating force, even if it comes at great personal risk or sacrifice.
one by one they'll be coming down altogether
Slowly but surely, the people will be able to break down the oppressive system and create a better future for everyone.
sister machine gun automatic high what a ride what a trip tripped over the candlestick
The fight against oppression can be both exhilarating and dangerous, with many ups and downs along the way.
tanks arrive fire wall got to keep the camera alive tell the world what's going on here
Even as the authorities escalate their use of force, it is important to document and share the truth of what is happening with the rest of the world.
warning shots are fired at the stomach chest wound coed falls
The brutality of the authorities is not limited to those who are actively fighting against them - innocent people can also be caught in the crossfire.
amped out amped out changing guns for brooms the guards change to clean up crews
Even as the violence subsides and the fight against oppression moves towards a peaceful resolution, there is still work to be done in cleaning up the mess that was left behind.
way back in 68 every thing was so great no way wrong date
The nostalgia and idealization of past movements can sometimes obscure the reality of what actually happened and the work that still needs to be done in the present.
keep up the trade balanced charade close circuit truth used to remove keep the camera alive
The authorities may try to maintain a facade of balance or control through propaganda or censorship, but it is important to continue to document and share the truth of what is happening.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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