Song of the Week: 'Worlock' - Skinny Puppy & Rabies Review

As a partial follow up to my earlier post on Skinny Puppy's concert at Salt Lake City's Club Vegas, I have chosen to spotlight their track 'Worlock' from their 1989 release Rabies as this week's Song of the Week. It might seem a cop out since 'Worlock' is overwhelmingly accepted as one of Skinny Puppy's finest moments, leaving little to still be said about why the track matters. All the same, I'm gonna go on about it for a few lines.

'Worlock' still remains my favorite Skinny Puppy song. I've listened to it and loved it since I was nine or ten years old, though at that age I had little idea what the song was about and why it was good. I liked it because my brother liked it and it sounded weird, but intriguing somehow. It still intrigues me and still blows my mind when I listen to it. 'Worlock' shows Skinny Puppy at their best, proving their incredible talent for creating solid pop beats, put to haunting, sad and pained music that is both abrasive and, at times, rather beautiful (just listen to that chorus and the rising finish). Ogre's ragged, raspy, cutting vocals transition for the chorus to a heavily computer-altered delivery that becomes almost overwhelmingly heartbreaking. During that final vocal delivery his voice soars to a flayed agony that suggests tragedy as much as it does horror. The lyrics are tough to follow and understand (this is Skinny Puppy after all), so here they are, so you can read along. In many ways the song is as significant today as it was upon its release - audio sample: "the police used to watch over the people, now they're watching the people", as just one example.

The 'Worlock' video has a long controversial history. It's a compilation of film clips from gore horror films linked together in a long montage. It covers over 20 films and is just one grotesque image after another. The video received an X rating for being pornographic. It is. But the images, combined with shots of slaughterhouse blades and uncooked hamburger suggest that what these images are saying is that the violence we do to each other has created a human slaughterhouse that we all should be disgusted by. We're killing ourselves, committing global suicide. Not a happy message, but one that the modern horror film often adopts and that many in the world at large seem to agree, giving rise to the opinion that it is really within the last century that the world went to hell. In the last century human destruction has accelerated at an alarming rate, with the nightly news is in danger of becoming more and more like the 'Worlock' video, or that we as viewers only see one gratuitous, pornographic image of violence and atrocity after another. Skinny Puppy might just be showing us a rather accurate portrait of the world, or at least how some people are beginning to see the world, and that should deeply trouble us and, like The Cure's blistering track 'Pornography', move us to demand, despite the overwhelming opposition, that we "find a cure".

Yet the problem still stands: even if Skinny Puppy wishes and pushes for change, they are still clearly enamored with their own brutality, creating a paradox that is as messy as their music, or at least as messy as the Rabies album, which has received mixed reviews since it was first released. But people are complicated and the art we make can be equally so. Perceived flaws in behavior don't always count as grounds for condemnation and dismissal, in my mind, both for art and people alike. People, and the art they make, misbehave - we are human after all. Sometimes it's those very flaws, fractures, and incongruencies that make the art or the person so interesting and wonderful.

Rabies is a case in point. This album is very close to my heart - admittedly for nostalgic, childhood reasons, as well as more stuffy critically analytical ones. I'm no music critic and speak here as an enthusiastic, obsessive layperson. Rabies was for a long time my favorite Skinny Puppy album (though Last Rights has since claimed that honor). It was the album that introduced me to the band; it's also one of their most accessible records, which turns some fans off (it always seems that 'accessible' is a big buzz-kill for hardcore fans, because it suggests the band has sold out to aspirations of top 40 radio fodder stardom). But it's also inaccessible because the record is uneven. 'Fascist Jock Itch', placed between 'Two Time Grime' and 'Worlock' seems a bad move. Maybe it is. But the track's spewed speed metal is so frantic and out of control that it actually helps us notice 'Worlock' better, because we're so out of breath and in need of a relaxant that 'Worlock''s soft synth fade-in sounds like the most blessed opener we've ever heard. It might be a stretch to say the uneven shift from the one track to the other is intentionally done to draw our attention to the tone of both tracks, and this tonal juxtaposition improves both songs. But it's an idea worth thinking about.

The album takes another strange shift from 'Rivers' to the end of the record. Here Ogre takes more of a back seat as cEvin Key and D.R. Goettel take over, working their instrumental and sampling magic. 'Rivers' is a strange compilation of audio samples and gentle synths. This atmospheric tone continues with 'Choralone': a bleak, strange track that isn't much of a song at all. It's more just stream of conscious thoughts supported by very effective textures and atmospherics. 'Amputate' follows nicely and seems to round out a trio of songs that don't work as well individually as they do together. But we're ground out of this bizarrely comfortable space that 'Rivers', 'Choralone', and 'Amputate' take us to with the sixteen minute concluding live brap 'Spahn Dirge'. Like 'Fascist Jock Itch', this mammoth ender undermines our position and leaves us feeling rather puzzled and unsure if we'd just heard the most vacuous, bloated waste of music Skinny Puppy ever made. I think they know it's a tough tonal shift and did it anyway to try something bizarre and difficult to test the limits and barriers of music and albums. I don't think it was to please listeners.
Maybe the album fails in what it's trying to do, but the attempt is the attraction for me. Some criticize Skinny Puppy for bringing in Alain Jourgensen to help produce. Some are just upset that Rabies wasn't VIVIsectVI, an attitude that I'm so bored with - they already did the VIVIsectVI album, why would you want them to just rehash it? When you try repeating what you've already done all you get is the likes of Godsmack, where every album sounds like the last; or Moby's 18, which sounds like a pile of forgettable outtakes from Play. If Skinny Puppy has proven anything it is that they are not afraid to push in a different direction and do something new for the sake of trying something yet unexplored - fans and critics be damned.

The album is an intriguing look at a band continuing to experiment and see what they can find and learn. At times they really capture something fantastic: 'Rodent', 'Two Time Grime', 'Worlock', 'Tin Omen'; sometimes they make something hypnotic and otherworldly: 'Rivers', 'Choralone', 'Amputate'. Sometimes it's just kind of perplexing: 'Fascist Jock Itch', 'Rain', 'Spahn Dirge'. But all of it combined makes for a real emotional, conceptual roller-coaster that leaves me still trying to grasp why it is so appealing. In the end, I think it's that the album isn't easy to explain or compartmentalize that makes it such a stand-out and important album.

To conclude, I have this video of 'Worlock' from the Salk Lake show. The quality is as we've come to expect from such raw video recordings. Such low-quality videos are often rather boring for me, but since I was there and saw this performance, it helps preserve that night in my memory. So I'm grateful to the person who shot this video for capturing one of the best moments from that night's show.

Nitzer Ebb at the Urban Lounge, SLC

So, last Tuesday Nitzer Ebb came to Salt Lake's Urban Lounge, the bar specializing in crappy sound and lighting - two things you always want at your concerts. I keep getting sucked back into that place, because superb bands keep playing there, which is frustrating because I hate that place, but love the bands, and know there are better venues they could and should play at. But I have to admit that the shows I've seen there have been really spectacular, showing the incredible power and skill of the bands to overcome the wretched conditions they have to work with. But you still always wonder how it could have been if they'd played somewhere else.

Anyway, I digress.

Nitzer Ebb was tremendous. Douglas McCarthy is one intense dude, with some furious stage presence. I had a heck of a time trying to get a good picture of him, because the man just wouldn't hold still. His movements were decisive, confident, focused, and by no means frantic. He was in control the whole time, heightening the show's intensity level with his theatrics and Corporate Man attire, amping the audience up with his gestures and fervor, giving everyone the show they'd hoped for.

As they performed "Getting Closer", from their album Showtime, I managed to get one picture I was very happy with. This very lucky picture conveys, to me, quite a bit of what the show was and what Nitzer Ebb is all about.


There also happens to be some folks out there who got some video of the show. Here's a nice recording of "Getting Closer", possibly shot by the camera you see bottom center in my picture. The sound is a bit distorted, probably due to proximity to the speakers, but still not bad. The camera position is great for capturing Douglas and Bon, who only stepped out from behind his equipment to sing this song, as they work their performing magic. Notice Bon lose his mic cable and recover it without really breaking stride.

And for those looking for other recordings of that night's "Getting Closer" performance, they are here as follows:

1) The video featuring, frame right, my camera and brief glimpses of myself, grooving away next to the coolest fan I've ever had the privilege to stand by at a show. He's the headbanging cat whose hair I've got in half my pictures.

2) The video behind me, where my hat-clad head is in the bottom of the frame. And we get more of my favorite fan.

3) The video showcasing more audience than band and the Urban Lounge's crappy sound.

After all these years Nitzer Ebb has still got it.

From the Water Tower

Skinny Puppy Assaults Salt Lake City

Last Friday, November 6, I attended with my friend and faithful concert buddy, Zach, Skinny Puppy's concert at Salt Lake City's Club Vegas, part of their 2009 In Solvent See Tour.

Club Vegas isn't a bad bar/club. Their primary sin, which may or may not be their policy, was that I couldn't bring my camera in, though that didn't prevent some from smuggling in point and shoot cameras and cell phone cams to take blurry pictures with. Alas, I was unable to capture Skinny Puppy's intense stage presence. But Club Vegas is still a worthwhile venue that feels spacious and comfortable, while also being small enough to maintain a certain intimacy that helped to magnify the feeling that we were apart of something unique and special that night.

The crowd, as expected on a night like this, was saturated in gothic attire, with many looking like they'd just as easily beat you as talk to you, but (perhaps to some people's surprise) behaved better than several crowds I've been in, for shows much tamer than Skinny Puppy. More than once someone trying to slide past me would apologize for stepping on mine or Zach's toes or saying "excuse me" when squeezing by, moving deeper into the swaying crowd, fresh beer in hand. These people (with a few amusing exceptions) were there for the performance and were great to be around.

The show itself was a sonic assault to the senses as cEvin Key laid down some intense jams, proving again what an incredible musician/technician he is. The music didn't let up once, but continued without pause, transitioning smoothly from song to song for the entire 90 minute set (a short performance, but understandable when you note their energy level). Only once did the band take a rest and leave the stage, signaling the close of the main set, but Key's electronics continued during this brief pause.

Ogre's own performance was captivating as he displayed what strong stage presence he has. He hit the stage looking like a demonic member of the KKK who'd escaped the hospital emergency room mid-surgery. He had two walking canes held in bloody bandage-wrapped hands and his miming stage movements were hauntingly engrossing. His white cloth demon mask began to come off partway through the show, revealing his faceless black mask underneath. It wasn't until the encore that Ogre came out without his costume and we got to see his intense, perhaps possessed, eyes that unsettled me so much that I kinda wish he'd kept the mask on. Their screen visuals were also intricate and cool, with images overlaying each other and looping to great effect.

Love In Vein - Skinny Puppy

The set list, beginning with 'Love in Vein', was a solid one of classics and new stuff, singles and solid album tracks. How they have updated some of those classic songs to their current musical style was really great to hear, making me feel like I was hearing some of these very familiar songs for the first time, or at least with a new ear. 'Rodent' and 'Assimilate' were especially well performed. 'Rodent' pulsed and pounded with intimidating self-confidence and that steady not-too-fast, but certainly not slow or plodding pace, that I've always felt showed the band's incredible confidence in what they were doing. It doesn't feel frantic or insecure, but shows a band completely in control of itself and what it wants to accomplish. Live the song still felt that way and the deep, pulsing resonance of the song I felt deep in my gut. During the song Ogre entered a glass case they had on stage, singing from this contained space, where midway through a blood bag burst on the glass to gruesome effect. It was the only bloody stage effect of the night, but it remained on stage the rest of the show as a grisly reminder of what Skinny Puppy is often about: violent shock that is both them having fun, as well as a comment on brutality and violence. 'Assimilate', one of Skinny Puppy's foundational 80s songs, pounded forward with a driving beat and rhythmic flow that took the song to new places the album versions hadn't. It's powerful energy and rather beautifully soaring soundscapes and melodies made it one of the best songs of the night.

Rodent - Skinny Puppy

For their second to last song, they did my personal favorite,'Worlock', and it came off with incredible power. Ogre's vocals brought out the tragedy of the song more than they did the horror. It was another of those conflicted moments when beauty and horror blended together, becoming one and the same. They then finished with the old classic 'Far Too Frail', a poppy and satisfying concluding song that left us all feeling light and grateful to have shared the experience. As Ogre and Key left the stage they almost looked as grateful to us as we were to them. The night was a success.

Zach, who in years past has attended more aggressive concerts than I have, commented that while the show was great, its intensity was such that he doesn't think he'll be able to listen to Skinny Puppy for at least three months. A somehow fitting statement that might make the band very happy.

Thank you, Skinny Puppy, for a terrific night.

The Stalwart

During my recent return to Berlin, that city of cities, I took a stroll down Unter den Linden. And who did I find, to my utter joy, but Werner, the street bookseller; still at it, but now bundled up to ward off the frigid fall weather. I've posted on Werner before, and his contribution to my first Berlin experience is more resonant that he knows. While Werner has forgotten me, I won't forget how I asked him what German books would be good for an English speaker to start with, to better practice and learn German. I asked him this question in German and he responded in English. Thus began our lengthy conversation that consisted mostly of Werner expressing his dislike for Guenter Grass and Thomas Mann (who you'll note in the picture Werner is still smart enough to sell, because he is popular), his cynical amusement of tourists wandering up and down Unter den Linder snapping boring tourist pictures with their point & shoot digital cameras, and his wish to do late-night readings of Berlin Alexanderplatz with me to accelerate my learning of the language. Fabulous memories.

This sighting of Werner remained but a sighting, for I didn't want to bother him and knew I wouldn't buy a book. It was enough to know I'd earlier bought a Reclam copy of Kafka's Der Prozess and would now snap a picture of the man at work, making me one of the tourist "Apes" he laughs at.

Werner, keep the flame alive.