eternal damnation
can be fun, too
Some people just don't get it.
They take things too seriously.
Especially when it comes to music
and taking lyrics literally,
or lifting them out of context.
Sure, the Skintones' new CD is
called "devilrock."
And, yes, some of the lyrics are a
little on the dark side.
But the band says they really
don't mean to scare anyone or do
any harm, and there is a method to
their madness.
To understand the Skintones, a
Madison hard rock band, you've got
to look at and listen to the whole
package.
That means being there to hear
their "psycho-fuzz" blend of rock
when they opened for the Poster
Children at O'Cayz Corral earlier
this year.
That means sitting in on their
practices twice a week in lead singer-
guitarist Peter Ress' basement.
And that means following them
through their mixing session at
Smart Studios.
With experience comes knowl-
edge. And by experiencing the Skin-
tones comes the knowledge that they
- Ress, 30, Chris Backus, 27, and
Tony Leskinen, 27- are a farce not
to be taken any more seriously than
the Smothers Brothers or Bill Mur-
ray.
But they are a farce that is not
only fun but talented.
After all, you don't get invited to
open for hands such as Imperial
Teen and the Poster Children, as the
Skintones did, by pretending that
you know what you are doing. You
have to know.
In fact, if the Skintones had a
little more motivation (Ress admits
they are lazy), they probably could
be playing out more and would have
made a bigger name for themselves
by now.
"We're more into self-expression
than self-promotion, though," Ress
says.
They exaggerate for effect. The
Skintones have their fun by juxta
posing menacing lyrics with poppy music
on songs such as "Somebody."
The opposite is true on "Daisies
in the Field," where the lyrics are
light-hearted and the music rocks hard.
But perhaps the hest clue to who
the Skintones are is the title to their
song "Alternate Reality." It's that
state, and only that state, that they
truly strive for.
"I don't want anyone to take us
seriously," says Ress, who not only
adds the voice and guitar, but much
of the fire to the hand. "We're noth-
ing more than a live-action comic
strip."
By day, Backus, the quiet one,
works at a group home helping peo-
ple who are autistic. But at night he
plays bass and likes to tinker with an
electronic machine he calls a "groove
box," which adds bizarre sounds and
drum machine when needed. The
Skintones call it the fourth hand
member.
Leskinen is the Eddie Haskell of
the group. An art student who also
drums for the band Mad Trucker
Gone Mad, he wears a smart-aleck
grin that signals a tongue-in-cheek
comment is on its way. He doesn't
hold back. Not in talking about his
music and not while playing it.
"I think I'm the devil," Leskinen
says, pointing to two devil horns on
his drum kit. "Or maybe I'm just
one of his disciples. But I am the
spiritual leader of the band."
The chemistry works and the
hand thrives on its differences.
Leskinen's interest in rhythm
comes from metal music. Backus has
a jazz background. Ress' tastes run
the pop gamut.
What they have in common,
though - besides an affection for
bottled boer and Uma Thurman - is
a love of aggressive music. And they
have experience to prove it, having
performed in bands such as Swiggo,
Wheelie King, Mind Ox and Horizon
Mine.
Their first show as the Skintones,
though, was Jan.29, 1998, at O'Cayz
Corral. Their debut release was a
four-song EP titled "the opinion of
my middle finger"
But the dreariness of that CD
sounds almost nothing like the Skin-
tones of 1999.
"We changed our sound after lis-
tening to our first CD," Ress says.
"We needed to ratchet it up."
Leskinen agees.
"We decided thatwe wanted to be
faster and heavier," he says. "Not to
push the pop element out, but to
kick its ass out the door."
The "devilrock" CD is in the fin-
ishing stages, having just been mixed
by Mark Haines at Smart Studios. It
will feature at least four originals
that the Skintones say better rep~
sent the band.
There is the raw Korn-like
"Daisies in the Field" and the lyr-
ically intense "Life Long." On "Lucy
Lately," they go for a raw Nirvana
"Bleach" sound - well-written but
not over-rehearsed. And "Somebody" is
catchy; their best chance for
radio reaction. They also are consid-
ering adding "Brain Saw" from their
first CD.
"Devilrock" was recorded over
four days and the mixing took an-
other day.
You have to see the Skintones'
Luciferian grins when they deliver
their cheeky vocals on songs such as
"Virus." Or be there for the intro-
duction to the yet unaamed song
about a make-believe FBI recruit
named Special Agent Onion Ring.
"Our practices, like our shows,
are bad stand-up comedy routines,"
Ress says. "We are here to afflict the
comforted and to comfort the afflicted.
The biggest mistake anyone
can make is to take us seriously."
To learn more about the Skin-
tones or to see a photo of the "devil-
rock" CD jacket, visit their World
W i d e W e b S it e a t
www.angelfire.com/wi/skintones
The site is a good introduction to
the Skintones. But to catch the band
at their best, you have to see them
live. Then, and only then, will you
get it, just as dozens of their
disciples have before.
