June 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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June 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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Skeleton Key return after 5 years, worth the wait 27 June 2002
New York experimental goth-funk collective Skeleton Key, led by quirky musical visionary Erik Sanko (ex Lounge Lizards), are back after five years with their second album. Titled Obtanium (American slang for 'free crap') and out this week for the US on Mike (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) Patton’s Alameda, California based Ipecac Recordings, the 11-plus track LP is a study in sensitive intensity—violent and delicate in equal measure. Across the songs on Obtanium, Skeleton Key get super funky (Saw Dust, The Barker Of The Dupes), dark & dirty (Panic Bullets, Dingbat Revolution), dark & nightmarish (Candy, That Tongue), twisted (Roost In Peace), and deeply moving (Say Goodnight). The band manage to tightly define a striking and profound musical style while avoiding any taste of redundancy. Sanko didn’t laze around after releasing Skeleton Key’s 1997 debut, Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon (on Capitol Records, now out of print). The band (then including some different members) toured relentlessly for two years, and in 2001 Sanko released a singular and improbable lo-fi solo album (check our review—link below). He then set to assembling a high-power collective of underground superstars to fuel his current project. The core members for Obtanium are Sanko on vocals and bass, Rick Lee (also in Enon) on junkyard percussion and vocals, Chris Maxwell (who’s played with Yoko Ono and They Might Be Giants) on guitars and vocals, and Colin Brooks (from Little Rock, Arkansas band Ho-Hum) on drums. The LP’s long list of guests includes Sanko’s brother, producer and film composer Anton Sanko (he toured in the ’80s as part of Suzanne Vega’s band); Danny Elfman, front man for Oingo Boingo and composer for the theme from The Simpsons (not to mention dozens of soundtracks); and Sterling Campbell, who has played drums with David Byrne, David Bowie, The B 52s, and Duran Duran. Obtanium ain’t beautiful, warm, gentle, or happy. Yet somehow you just want to give it a hug and hold it close anyway. Four bites out of five. Rockbites ratings 5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying. | Skeleton Key | | Ipecac Recordings | | CD from Amazon US | | Erik Sanko solo LP review on Rockbites | | top of page | |
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