Skinjob - Selfish Discipline

If you live in the UK, it's actually becoming hard to fail to attend a decent Industrial gig. Skinjob's first album "Selfish Discipline" is no less than the 15th debut album by a decent UK band so far in 2011.

The first (and last) thing anyone heard of this project was 2007's promising "Insects & Metaphors" E.P.
In the four years since, Fitz (Main member of Skinjob) seems to have locked himself away, and really worked hard at fine-tuning, perfecting, and getting ready to unleash an absolute Gem. Back in 2007, it was hard to categorize Skinjob - Electro-Industrial seemed to work, but there was elements of Noise, Trance, TBM - if you're one of those people who dislikes sub-genres, this is going to give you a headache.

I'm going to go ahead and add "Aggrotech" to that list. Opening track "Hate" is as fast paced as anything by C-Lekktor , Hocico, and the plethora of similar bands you can think of. The background synth and Rhythm are as dis-sociable as anything you can think of, and importantly, it's fucking impossible not to dance to this. I'm rocking my baby in her chair as I write this, and actually finding myself doing it much faster than intended.

Let's break the usual formula of my reviewing styles, and give real life examples of the potential behind Skinjob - I played "Reject your Shame" (2nd track) over Skype to various people - without (of course) mentioning the name of the act, or the song. Everyone loved it - with some people asking if it was Die Sektor, others thinking it was Combichrist, and others not being able to compare it to anything, but unanimously claiming that it could be as big as those two.

I'm personally delighted to see 3 of the 5 tracks from the E.P. on this album - although "Mothers Against Noise" and "Sex Machine 2.1" are both excellent tracks, I think Fitz made the right choice in omitting them.

Next track up, "Beauty is your Toy" IS one of the tracks from 2007. It stood out in 2007, and here, in 2011, with 9 tracks competing, it's still one of the most memorable tracks on the release.

I'd completely understand if it rang alarm bells when I say that a track from 2007 is still one of the best Four years on - but unlike most artists, who develop and get much better over time, Skinjob has retained what was already masterful songwriting, and if anything, honed it. Therefore, this re-mastered version is as fresh and enjoyable now as it was back then.

For me, the stand out track on this release is "Control" - a high-energy fast blast of Noise - this is on the same level to me as S.A.M, Soman and Xotox. However, this doesn't stay in the Rhythmic Noise vein - Fitz's vocals, and the slower moments make this a track to work out to, to jog to, to damn well do something inspired to.

Skinjob in 2011 isn't just a good project. It isn't just a great project. This is the musical equivalent of getting a Hug from the Girl of your dreams, 15 mins after you get told by your ex that she's dumped you cos you're ugly and boring.

Off you go, to Amazon, iTunes, or Music Non Stop. May 14 2011