In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing. This week: actually scary songs.
My entry from February about My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult’s “Do You Fear For Your Child?” could certainly qualify here, but let’s go for another of my favorites from the industrial era, Skinny Puppy. Around age 14, I discovered industrial and quickly became entranced/terrified of it. As I mentioned in that TKK piece, I was genuinely scared to see some of my favorite bands live, so I was definitely nervous when I finally saw Skinny Puppy in 1992 on the Last Rights tour.
By that point, I had devoured the Skinny Puppy discography. Albums like Rabies, VIVISectVI, and Too Dark Park were on my Discman regularly, and my combo disc of Remission and Bites saw plenty of action even though the band sounded dramatically different in the early days. Not seeing as much play was 1986’s Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse or 1987’s Cleanse, Fold And Manipulate, though I still listened to them. Years later I’d realize how much I love a good hook, but at the time I’d plod through Skinny Puppy’s occasional atonal shrieking and convince myself I was into it. Those records aren’t all noise, but I had a harder time hooking into them than I did stuff like Too Dark Park, which remains a classic.