They are a multi-racial band who crumple the boundaries between rock genres and they have a singer who is a
They are a multi-racial band who crumple the boundaries between rock genres and they have a singer who is a cross between Naomi Campbell, Tank Girl and Aretha Franklin. Then there are the lyrics, which rail against corrupt evangelism (“Selling Jesus”), the police (“Skunk Song”), racism (“Little Baby Swastikkka”). “It’s a documentation of what’s going on, of what’s around now,” says Skin. “We’re a very modern band, we’re not interested in retro stuff We’re PC, and we’re not pretending to be anti-PC. If that makes us uncool in some people’s eyes then they can go and shag a fork- lift truck.”But the main reason for their success is that high-voltage stage act. Even when recording their album, due in the autumn, Ace’s solos were at their best when Skin leapt on him and wrestled him to the floor as she does on stage.”Scary” is an adjective frequently applied to their shows, but it’s a sign of the mediocrity of concerts when it is thought frightening for a singer to jump about.
“If people are scared by the way I look, they’re pathetic,” says Skin.But the scariest thing about Skin and Ace is how well-adjusted, unpretentious and humorous they are. Skin, in fluorescent orange vest, has a squeaky little Brixton voice; she sounds much less confrontational than in print.Skin’s name sounds as militant as you can get But she says it’s short for Skinny, her childhood nickname. As for painting crosses, stripes and stars on her head, it’s “just ‘avin’ a laugh an’ bein’ stupid”.Formed on the North London club scene 15 months ago, Skunk Anansie say success has not been as swift as it appears “This is just our second single. If you’re travelling around making money, that’s when you think you’ve arrived,” says Ace. “But we’re not doing either.”They spend most of the interview laughing but when the photographer raises his camera they immediately assume grave faces “We’re political revolutionaries, man,” says Cass.
“Political revolutionaries don’t smile.” “Yeah,” Ace agrees, “those T-shirts with Che Guevara on them wouldn’t look right if he was smiling.”! Skunk Anansie: “I Can Dream” (One Little Indian) is out now.. IN MORE trusting times, a visit to Greece completed the education of any eager teenager who had spent schooldays labouring over dry classical texts. A slow train through Yugo-slavia or an odyssey on the Brindisi ferry preceded that magical moment in the National Museum at Athens when you beheld – carelessly displayed in a dusty glass case – the crinkled features of a long-dead king, imprinted on a thin disc of gold. A small card informed the viewer that Heinrich Schliemann, the German archaeologist, had found this treasure in 1876.