Skinny Puppy: Rabies [NETTWERK]

Why you'll love it

This Nettwerk LP was pressed in the Czech Republic with stamped runouts. Rabies was a commercial success for the Vancouver band, and "Worlock" became one of their best-known songs.

This edition

• Pressed in the Czech Republic
• Stamped runouts

About the album

Vancouver's Skinny Puppy had already built industrial music a home on the West Coast when Nivek Ogre invited a friend over. Al Jourgensen of Ministry, credited here as Alien Jourgensen, joined the band at Mushroom Studios through 1988 and 1989, co-producing alongside cEvin Key and longtime collaborator Dave Ogilvie and adding guitar and vocals to several songs.

Key and Dwayne Goettel wrote with Jourgensen in mind, so the guitars come up front on "Tin Omen" and "Fascist Jock Itch." "Worlock" is the classic: a slow, menacing groove with a vocoder chorus built on a Roland Harmonizer, and the band has played it on every tour since. "Hexonxonx" mixes twisted humour with Throbbing Gristle-style experiment, and "Choralone" and "Rain" stay close to the band's eerie, sample-stuffed roots. Sessions ran at Mushroom Studios in Vancouver, with "Fascist Jock Itch" mixed at Chicago Trax, so you can hear two scenes meeting in the middle.

Steven R. Gilmore, the band's longtime visual collaborator, designed the cover, and it still turns heads in the rack. Despite the title, no vaccinations are required; a decent pair of speakers will do.

Also at Kops: more Skinny Puppy on vinyl · browse CDN Pop / Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Nettwerk, a reissue of the 1989 album.