Kaleidoscope - 1980
So it's a throwback for my first Song of the Day review...
This song suckers you in. A tambourine rattle barely registers before a jittery snare attacks, and Sioux's arresting opening line of "Mink, seal and ermine / Smother fat women," is drawled out. Throughout the verse, the drums and stabs of keyboards punctuate the lyrics. Before too long, that drawl rises to a shout ("There's just too many of them!"), and the drums rise into a frenzy while a wall of fuzzy guitar builds behind the bile.
"Skin"'s viewpoint abruptly switches from the disgusted observer of the opening to a grotesque caricature of what Sioux sees as a typical fur wearer; "It's a shame about the smell, but they're fine, steeped in perfume." In context, the song stands as one of the few true rockers on the otherwise low-key Kaleidoscope, and forms a sort of trilogy with "Paradise Place" and "Red Light,"all of which represent a sort of social consciousness the band hadn't quite explored yet.
The anger in "Skin," especially, makes it the perfect denouement to this trilogy. Which at first seems incongruous, because the chorus of "Give me your skin for dancing in," is oddly catchy and the herky-jerky rhythms are vaguely danceable. But it quickly becomes clear that the chorus simply accentuates this first person portrait Sioux is painting in her lyrics.
The guitars know their place in this song; they remain resolutely in the background, but they deftly fill the gaps left by the rhythm section and add a claustrophobic buzz.
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