"Our songs are all about what happens to us on a day to day level," says Skunk Anansie vocalist Skin, summing up the essence of the multi-racial British quartet's blistering debut recording, Paranoid And Sunburnt (One Little Indian/Epic). With her cohorts Ace (guitars), Cass Lewis (bass) and Mark Richardson (drums) providing the boiling musical mix, Skin wails through 11 riveting tunes that dissect issues of racism, sexism and religion. "On the album, there are so many emotional levels, so many different types of songs, but they're all our songs, because it's all summing up what's going on in London."
Paranoid And Sunburnt meets the challenge of capturing the frenetic Skunk Anansie live sound, an invigorating blend of punk, funk, hard rock and reggae. The album was co-produced by the band and Sylvia Massey (Tool, Bikini Kill). "She got the best sounds out of us that she could," enthuses Skin. Andy Wallace, whose resume includes Nirvana and Jeff Buckley mixed the tracks. The album was recorded over six weeks in the early fall of 1994 in Milton Keynes, about 40 minutes outside London, at "this huge mansion in the middle of nowhere," according to Cass.
"When we recorded the album, we went through every single extreme that you could," recalls Skin. "We had a brilliant time. And other times we went completely mad, stir crazy." After deciding that the vocals weren't as frenzied as at their shows, they turned the manor ballroom into a makeshift war zone, strewn with paper, polaroid photos, a small fortress and a mutilated bust of Elvis, and recorded in war paint.
That frenzied atmosphere is captured in the video for the band's first single, the searing "Selling Jesus," filmed by Gob TV. With a white cross emblazoned across her face, Skin attacks organized religion for misleading innocents with falsehoods in order to line their pockets. The song was inspired when the British Government offered grants for charitable organizations, and dozens of pseudo-religious orders with dubious aims cropped up to collect. "That just got me thinking about Christianity, Catholicism, and how much made-up crap it is," says Skin. "You flick through the channels on American TV and there are all these people selling Jesus," adds Cass.
Again and again in the course of Paranoid And Sunburnt, Skin returns to the thorny issue of racism. "Little Baby Swastikkka" sprang into her mind after seeing a swastika that appeared to be work of a small child on a wall, even as a member of England's neo-fascist National Party was being elected into a high-ranking office. "Intellectualize My Blackness" reaches back to her college years, where in the course of student activism she encountered a figure who, in his quest to be Student Union President, was more concerned with merely mastering the rhetoric of political correctness than conquering his own internalized racism.
Elsewhere, tight musicianship and cohesive songwriting allows Skunk Anansie turn in gentler performances, like "Charity" and the lilting "100 Ways To Be A Good Girl."Skin began performing six years ago. A fellow student overheard her singing along to her Walkman, and asked her to front his band; she refused his entreaties for a year before acquiescing. "I got very good very quickly," admits Skin modestly. "I discovered I could do things after just practicing once."
Three years later, she put that talent to use in a band with Cass. That unit dissolved at the end of 1993, but not before playing a club run by Ace, whose own band was also drawing to a close. In January of 1994, Skunk Anansie kicked off (with a different drummer; Mark joined in July of 1995), and played their first gig that March. Within ten gigs, they'd been snatched up by UK indie One Little Indian, followed in rapid succession by Epic in America. "We didn't expect it to go that quickly," says Skin, "but we knew we were bloody good."
The first thing they did upon finalizing the legal arrangements was recording the album. "We didn't want to come out and then have to disappear for a couple months to record the album," says Skin. They wanted to build their momentum on the road after the album was completed, and have been tackling the UK festival circuit this summer, wowing crowds of upwards of 10,000 at gatherings including Scotland's "Tea In The Park" and The Reading Festival. "We're essentially a live band," stresses Ace, who onstage runs circles around the hyperactive Skin. "We just love playing our music," adds Cass. "Once we're up on stage, we could be on Mars. It doesn't matter."
Skunk Anansie are enjoying additional exposure through the inclusion of two songs, "Selling Jesus" and "Feel," on the soundtrack of the forthcoming movie Strange Days, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett and Juliette Lewis. The band also recently cut a special version of Bj├╢rk's single "Army Of Me" at the request of the Icelandic superstar, who liked their rendition so much that she recorded new vocals for it.
Skin realizes that Skunk Anansie, the first successful rock band ever fronted by a Black woman, may baffle some. "I'm being portrayed as the angry Black lesbian," she laughs. "Everyone thinks I'm 6'3"!" But that's all part of the game plan, as Skunk Anansie are designed to provoke their listeners in an inspired, genuine fashion. Even their peculiar name reflects that aim: Anansie is an eight-legged human protagonist in the Jamaican equivalent of the American Uncle Remus stories. "He's the king of mischief," explains Cass. "And the Skunk aspect is just the stinkiest thing we could think of. It's one of those names that--once you can bring your mind to remember it--you'll never forget."
