 |
| Skinned Teen in the Rough Trade Records basement |
some dude wrote about us for the onion (PS that is not the band on our LP cover, our proper cover got rejected by the record label so we took a photo of a bunch of our friends hanging out in a grave yard)
someone wrote a wikipedia about it all too for some reason? how many more inane things can I put here? hmmm I am sure some other dudes have written about skinned teen? oh wait here is a thing I wrote for the BK website about skinned teen forming directly as a result of huggy bear/Bikini kill
1 comment:
I wrote this review of Bazooka Smooth on Amazon in 2013. Edited slightly for clarification and coherence.
"Skinned Teen were one of those riot grrl inspired bands with an origin myth about passing fan zines to Kathleen Hanna, out of awe and admiration Layla Gibbon mentioned being in a band and Hanna invited them to open for them during the UK tour with Huggy Bear. Perhaps there is an element of romantic distortion in the telling of these tall tales or in their reiteration by fans, but Skinned Teen sound just like the "Kid's Libs Guerillas" that Huggy Bear were too mature to actually be. Three girls with handclaps and scream-sung unison vocals that recall playground chants with a working class poetic sensibility and incorporating overt Feminist politics. On their earlier releases guitar and bass is scant and deliriously amateurish, drums are completely absent. You can find glockenspiel rock on Lust-Filled Boys long before it became fashionable with bands like Los Campesinos. Most of their songs on 7 inch single Karate Hairdresser and Wiija double 7-inch compilation Some Hearts Paid to Lie were three chords or entirely acapella. Bazooka Smooth! has guest drummer Niki of Huggy Bear, but a pronounced beat makes the compositions seem more tense and fragile, Pillowcase Kisser is ramshackle and beautiful with finger snap girl group ferocity. Black Cat is a sensual rockabilly bass line descending amidst whispers, chants, finger snaps and percussion. We are urged to "go deeper than blackboard knowledge" on "Geometry of Trigs" a song of tribal drums and no choruses. Their side of the Raooul split ends with derisive and joyous laughter at the end of "I had Mark Arm" (a scene inside joke equivalent to Raooul's lyrically similar "I had Jesse Blatz"). Initially the entire split album was available for download before Lookout records folded, the Raooul side is worthy of investigation as well. Skinned Teen has inspired with their true DIY spirit, being able to compose eloquent and inventive music while lacking technical proficiency. More bands should be as brave and effortlessly cool as Layla Gibbon, Esme Young and Flossy White."
Out of curiosity do you have those mythic Huggy Bear demos from when Matthew Fletcher was on drums? I was (and continue to be)grateful that someone posted digital conversions of the We Bitched cassettte and The Huggy Nation Kisserboy Kissergirl compilation online, but the other demos have never surfaced.
Sincerely,
Michael B.
Post a Comment