Skunk Anansie rocks the Troubadour
Skunk Anansie (Troubadour, 450 capacity; $10)
By Troy J. Augusto
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - London-based quartet Skunk Anansie,
led by striking frontwoman Skin, thoroughly rocked the soldout
Troubadour Monday night with a ferocious and unrelenting display,
wrapping on a promising note a short U.S. campaign to promote the
group's third album.
The bald and athletic Skin (born Deborah Dyer 31 years ago) is an
intimidating beauty in the tradition of Grace Jones, and, stalking the
stage like some barely caged cat, she worked her elastic voice to
wide-ranging effect, never better than during the mid-set performance
of the new song ``Secretly,'' a sweeping ballad that showed the delicate
vocal power at her command.
The rest of Skunk Anansie -- which formed in London in 1994 and
released its first album later that year -- showed what three years of
almost constant international touring can do for a band as they powered,
with plenty of Led Zep-informed riffage, through 15 songs taken from all
three of the group's politicized albums with a steady and overwhelming
precision.
More than just standard, '70s-affected hard rock, however, the music of
Skunk Anansie bears updated elements of punk, reggae and hip-hop as
well as a smattering of African and Eastern influences, giving added heft
to songs such as the vindictive ``I Can Dream,'' the bluesy ``Lately,'' the
dramatic flip-off ``We Don't Need Who You Think You Are'' and the pained
``Twisted.''
Another highlight, first single ``The Skank Heads,'' was an in-your-face rocker
tailor-made for inciting crowds of kids to mosh about, as they often struggled
to do at the packed club. A three-song encore of older songs featured some of
the group's more political material, including ``We Love Your Apathy'' and,
from their 1994 debut album ``Paranoid & Sunburnt,'' the chilling tale
``Little Baby Swastikkka.''
Skunk Anansie returns for a more extensive North American tour in late summer,
coinciding with the Aug. 24 issue of ``Post Orgasmic Chill'' on Virgin.
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