Skin Yard
Skin Yard Select
C/Z Records
All the cartilage is gone from Skin Yard’s gnarly proto-grunge anatomy. Subject to x-ray examinations, now that the new limited edition Skin Yard Select 7×7” colored vinyl box set has arrived, their dense, psychedelic mystery stew of sludgy, arty metal and punk has always rubbed enigmatic, postmodern lyrics against heavy, blown-out riffs and punishing rhythmic voodoo, with nothing to cushion or separate all the gritty, hallucinatory elements. The visionary, complex friction they generate is nasty work, indeed, creating intensely visceral and sprawling, absurdist drama characteristic of Thomas Pynchon novels.
If such a thing as musical orthopedics exists, “Words on Bone” – the evocative working title of an upcoming Skin Yard oral history being compiled by founding member/bassist Daniel House, as well as the name of one of their songs – could be an untreatable condition. In Skin Yard’s case, though, it’s a blessing, as House and guitarist Jack Endino, who also shepherded iconic albums by Mudhoney and Nirvana (among others) to grunge glory as a producer, carefully handpicked material for Skin Yard Select, which traces the development of an under-appreciated, trailblazing juggernaut that pointed the way for the likes of Green River, Soundgarden, and Screaming Trees.
Along the way, a revolving door of celebrated drummers stayed in the house of Skin Yard, however briefly. The list includes Matt Cameron, of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam fame. Barrett Martin, best known for his work with Screaming Trees and Mad Season, also once sat behind Skin Yard’s kit, as did Jason Finn, of Love Battery and Presidents of the United States of America. Gruntruck’s Norman Scott held down that spot, too, at one point.
Their contributions are honored as well, in what seemingly was never meant to be an exhaustive history. Rather, the chosen ones here, ephemera gathered from the four studio albums spanning 1985-1991, represent the essence of Skin Yard’s wild creativity, collating previously released recordings with assorted remixes and rarities, alternate versions, and a newly unveiled track in packaging that is as colorfully vivid as its contents are incendiary and bewildering.
Only available through House’s label, the venerable C/Z, Skin Yard Select displays a willingness to cleverly manipulate quiet-loud, rollercoaster dynamics, bending them to their will in a remixed, Kafkaesque “The Blind Leading the Blind,” where quiet, harrowing desperation heaves back and forth, building to a chaotic sermon of literate, spoken-word calm amid a blustery tempest. The off-kilter, angular “California” transitions to a blazing punk inferno of disaffected, coming-of-age frustration, with the chugging, slashing “Stuck in a Plan” in a similar mood, the dizzying “Go to Sleep” and “Slow Runner” spinning out in helter-skelter, careening grooves, and an alternate take on “Living Pool” drowning in a powerful vortex of searing guitar interplay and rage.
As the growling “Burn” seethes like The Rollins Band, “Ritual Room” broods and “Burn a Hole” and the aforementioned “Words on Bone” grumble and moan, as if experiencing the mind-bending, swaying influences of a sweat lodge. “River Throat” is choppy and urgent, reminiscent of Primus, and “Hallowed Ground” has a funky radiance that’s illuminates the darkness. Jazzy, improvisational sensibilities occasionally break the surface, as a remixed “Burning the Candle” squeals with high-pitched saxophone and apocalyptic tension, its quickening pace giving way to a tight bass line, textured percussion and crystalline, multi-hued effects. Skin Yard Select is not for bourgeois tastes.
