Spahn Ranch is the name of two bands:
1. An industrial group from LA Read Full Bio ↴Spahn Ranch is the name of two bands:
1. An industrial group from LA
2. A post-punk act from Detroit

The first and most well known is the Los Angeles electronic-industrial music group, formed in 1992 by Matt Green and his New York-based collaborator, Rob Morton. The group signed to Cleopatra Records. That same year, a self-titled, four-song EP with vocals supplied by Scott Franklin (later to become bassist for The Cramps), was released. In 1993, they added vocalist Athan Maroulis and recorded their debut album Collateral Damage. Their sophomore effort, The Coiled One, appeared two years later in the midst of Morton leaving the band due to creative and logistical differences. After his departure, the line-up was expanded to include Christian Death drummer David Glass, Screams for Tina guitarist Kent Bancroft, and Tubalcain drummer Harry Lewis. This offered a beginning of the fuller, more diverse, dark electro-industrial sound that Spahn Ranch would continue to pursue. By 1997 Spahn Ranch pared themselves down to a tight, three-piece unit of Green, Maroulis and Lewis.
Architecture, released in 1997, featured contributions from Killing Joke/Prong bassist Paul Raven and Rockats/Nancy Sinatra guitarist Danny B. Harvey. This album took an even more experimental appraoch to the Spahn Ranch sound, incorporating elements of drum and bass, dub and for the first time, live guitar parts. Beat Noir, in 1998, followed a similar path even further and included work with Bauhaus/Love & Rockets bassist David J.The band regularly toured throughout North America during their existence with the likes of Front Line Assembly, Front 242, Switchblade Symphony and The Electric Hellfire Club. Spahn Ranch also made a couple of European treks prior to their demise as a group in 2000. Closure was a posthumous release in 2001 of their final album recorded in 2000.

The second band was formed in Detroit, MI in 1986 and released one album in 1987 called Thickly Settled. In it's infancy, the band played in many local venues on the bill with various local bands. Quickly a strong following developed, which immediately precipitated a self titled cassette release of six tracks on the Ikthus Network label. After having missed their own billing at a show, the band was introduced to Eric Cope of Insight Records from San Francisco, CA. He offered them a contract with Insight after reviewing their cassette and video work. The band accepted and began recording their first LP, 'Thickly Settled' in California where they were welcomed by receptive audiences. 'Thickly Settled' was hailed as one of the best albums of the year by England's Underground Magazine, and also met favorable reception in the U.S.A. None of the members of Spahn Ranch had any formal music training and had not played an instrument prior to forming the group. "The sound they create is tense and raw, not polished to distract from the music itself. Drummer Odell Nails lays down a thick, almost tribal drum beat, accompanied by Hobey Echlin's bass foundation for the music. Guitarist Bradley Horowitz adds the energetic, consuming guitar melodies, changing the tunings for each song in order to make no two sets alike. Bob Sterner's vocals with a touch of folk influence, mesh with the instrumental sounds that give the finished product, intense music which envelopes and audience." Hobey Echlin later joined the band as bassist.

Peel
Spahn Ranch Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Peel the skin
Black shiny long
Extend
Pool the mouth
Come through profile
Look back in pleasure
Cup under with hands

Peel the skin
Pull it through
Let it touch you

Watching the hands cup under
Hold from mouthing
Wrist an arc of pleasure
Torn mouth perpetual
Peel, peel the skin

Torn mouth perpetual in the water
Prepare the body

Waiting the liquidy high
Peel the skin

Overall Meaning

Spahn Ranch's song "Peel" is a dark and surreal piece that evokes vivid and unsettling images. The lyrics are cryptic but deeply evocative, and they seem to explore themes of transformation, pleasure, and pain. The song begins with the image of skin being peeled, metaphorically invoking the idea of shedding one's outer layer to reveal something raw and new.

The next stanza describes someone extending their long, black, shiny body into a pool, creating a menacing image of something sleek and dangerous. The words "come through profile" suggest a sense of emergence, as if the singer is breaking through the surface of the water and revealing themselves in some way. The phrase "look back in pleasure" could be interpreted in several ways, but it seems to imply a sense of satisfaction or enjoyment at the act of peeling away one's skin and revealing what lies beneath.

Line by Line Meaning

Peel the skin
Remove the outer layer of flesh

Black shiny long
Referring to the appearance of the skin or object being peeled

Extend
Stretch out or elongate

Pool the mouth
Collect saliva in the mouth

Come through profile
View something from a certain angle or perspective

Look back in pleasure
Reflect on something with satisfaction or happiness

Cup under with hands
Hold something delicately with both hands

Pull it through
Tug or drag something through a tight space

Let it touch you
Allow something to come into contact with your skin or body

Watching the hands cup under
Observing the motion of hands holding something

Hold from mouthing
Grasp something tightly in the mouth