Artist: Skintones
Title: Never Get Better
Genre: Rock-Alternative-Punk-Metal
Label: Crustacean Records
Website
With a label name like Crustacean do ya think the band might be a little rough around the edges? Uh, I do think it’s a fit. The band that has a more cosmetic name, the Skintones, are everything but cosmetic. They are rough and tumble, straight forward minus the bullshit, cocky, and above all, they have the talent to back it all up.
Tony Leskinen (drums, vocals), Pete Ross (guitar, vocals) and Darwin Sampson (bass, vocals) are a ballsy trio that has the time of their lives on a rockin’ new album. They are funny, in your face, and a fun listen. I heard a very interesting and entertaining blend of rock, punk and alternative that borders on crossing over into progressive at times. The band likes to call their sound munkal (a combination of metal and punk). This is a band of advanced musicians, there is no question about it, even though they do not take themselves too seriously as indicated by the credits in the CD, they introduce the band lineup as the self-absorbed pricks. I really do not believe that these guys are like this, they are just making light of themselves just as they do every other subject matter on the album.
The first tracks digs right in, shouting at all the overpaid fat cats on Capitol Hill with lines like-The United States/ is a basket case/it’s a fucked up place/time and energy has gone to waste/it’s the United States today. While this is true, I will take living in the U.S. on a bad day over many countries on a good day. On “Million $ Itch” you have to love the wide-eyed window shopping fool and the line-You got a million dollar itch/With a twenty dollar scratch. This is a tough dose of reality for a person with expensive taste and no money to fill the hole and insecurities that go with it.
Article comments
1 - El Pollo
These guys rule, they put on a great live show as well. Check them out!