Camp Skin Graft ! Now Wave

Photographer: Kim Ambriz.
Skin Graft aims to challenge the listener with an imposing roster of bands. These musicians throw kinks, twists, and blasts of noise into their music. Skin Graft's "no wave" is the aural equivalent of a seatbeltless ride on an angular roller coaster of a sociopath's design. Such material is bound to make pretty people do ugly things. Still, one might find that this seething patch of dermis possesses a number of stand-out gems. Among favored tracks are the interesting sounds of sparse guitar from U.S. Maple ("Missouri Twist"), Shakuhachi Surprise's collections of samples and surprise rock called "Nande," and the fractured power trio called Monitor Radio. There is also the post-metal sound from Shorty and the frantic horn-wailing in Ruins' "Hydromasgroningem" bolstered by an angry bass and an equally irate drummer/vocalist. Further track highlights come from Mount Shasta, Quintron, Bobby Conn, Space Streakings, and Zeni Geva. Liner notes provide album sources for each of the 33 tracks. ~ Tom Schulte