Skunk (band)
Skunk | |
|---|---|
| Genres | Alternative rock, post-hardcore |
| Years active | 1986-1991 |
| Labels | Twin/Tone |
| Website | www |
Skunk was an American alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Maplewood, New Jersey. During the group's existence Skunk released two albums on Twin/Tone Records; 1989's Last American Virgin and 1991's Laid.[1]
Skunk was the first band of now respected session guitarist Matt Sweeney, who after their demise went on to form New York City math rock quartet Chavez,[2] and drummer Claude Coleman, Jr., best known for his over 20-year tenure playing with Ween.[3] Also in the band for its entire history was bassist Matt Quigley, who later went on to form the art-pop group Vaganza.[3]
While not well known during the time of their existence, they were a favorite group of Billy Corgan of the multi-platinum 90s band Smashing Pumpkins, who in 2001 joined forces with Sweeney to form the band Zwan.[4] In the liner notes to the Pumpkins' Pisces Iscariot LP, Corgan wrote of the song "Frail and Bedazzled"
- "frail and bedazzled owes a great debt to the band skunk, from whom i ripped part of this song off. skunk was probably the greatest band that i ever knew/saw that is virtually unknown-even less than the frogs. frogs. skunk. i miss skunk."[5]
After releasing “Last American Virgin," the band asked guitarist/songwriter Tim Aaron to tour in support of the release, as well as co-write, record, and produce a 4-track cassette demo. Based on that demo, which took several months to write, Twin Tone Records agreed to finance a second album, "Laid." Although the material was already prepared, the original three members opted to become a trio at the last minute. They took one week to re-write much of the demo material for the smaller lineup.
Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore planned to release the original demo cassette (which included Aaron) on his Ecstatic Peace! record label, but the pressing was delayed indefinitely when Sweeney would not approve any artwork.[6] In 2015, the demo resurfaced on the Frozen Frequencies record label.
Discography
- Last American Virgin (1989)
- Laid (1991)[7]
- Knobb Off 3:45
- Kome Klean 3:38
- Take It All 3:19
- The Best 3:30
- Every Mother 5:25
- Beauty Calls 4:24
- Dummy 2:45
- Beauty Crawls 4:16
- Girlfriend 4:08
- I Think I Don't Mind 6:18
- (There Will Be Other Girls) Hoss 4:39
- (I'm Such A) Chump/(To Be The) Chump 5:49
- Wrathchild 2:45
References
- ^ unknown. "AllMusic entry for Skunk". AllMusic. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
- ^ Cohan, Brad (December 23, 2010). "Q&A: Chavez's Matt Sweeney On How He Ended Up Working With Josh Groban". The Village Voice. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
- ^ a b "Skunk". Trouser Press. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
- ^ McInnes, Gavin. "The Smashing Pumpkins are Dead". Vice. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
- ^ "Liner notes to Pisces Iscariot". Smashing Pumpkins Fan Collaborative. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
- ^ https://skunkassette.bandcamp.com
- ^ Ira A. Robbins, David Sprague The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock 1997 Page 142 "Laid (Twin\Tone) 1991 Singer/guitarist Matt Sweeney first came to light with the New Jersey punk band Skunk, whose two records feature sophomoric album titles with juvenile lyrics and aimless vocals to match, although both are stylistically diverse and Laid shows real progress toward a fully realized sound."