Skunk was an American
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
band formed in 1986 in
Maplewood, New Jersey. During the group's existence Skunk released two albums on
Twin/Tone Records
Twin/Tone Records was an independent record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which operated from 1977 until 1994. It was the original home of influential Minnesota bands the Replacements and Soul Asylum and was instrumental in helping the T ...
; 1989's ''Last American Virgin'' and 1991's ''Laid''.
Skunk was the first band of now respected session guitarist
Matt Sweeney
Matt Sweeney (born July 2, 1969) is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist of Skunk, Chavez, and supergroup Zwan.
Early life and education
Sweeney was born in New Jersey. His father was John D. Sweeney, a professo ...
, who after their demise went on to form New York City
math rock
Math rock is a style of progressive and indie rock with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush as well as 20th-century minimal music composers such as Steve Reich. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (includi ...
quartet
Chavez,
and drummer
Claude Coleman, Jr., best known for his decades long tenure playing with
Ween
Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band a ...
.
Also in the band for its entire history was bassist Matt Quigley, who later went on to form the art-pop group
Vaganza Vaganza was a theatrical art-rock-pop duo consisting of multi-instrumentalists David Longworth Wallingford and Quigley.
Astronaut, Skunk, and Vaganza's origins
Wallingford and Quigley began formally working on the Vaganza project in late-1991 ...
.
While not well known during the time of their existence, they were a favorite group of
Billy Corgan of the multi-platinum 90s band
Smashing Pumpkins
Smash may refer to:
People
* Smash (wrestler) (born 1959), professional wrestler
* Moondog Rex, another professional wrestler who briefly wrestled as the original Smash, before being replaced by the above.
* DJ Smash, DJ and music producer
Ar ...
, who in 2001 joined forces with Sweeney to form the band
Zwan
Zwan was an American alternative rock supergroup that was formed by Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin, lead singer/guitarist and drummer of The Smashing Pumpkins respectively, after they disbanded in December 2000. Other members included bassi ...
. In the liner notes to the Pumpkins' ''
Pisces Iscariot
''Pisces Iscariot'' is a compilation album by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released in 1994 through Virgin Records, consisting of B-sides and outtakes. Reaching number 4 in the US upon its 1994 release, ''Pisces Iscariot' ...
'' LP, Corgan wrote of the song "
Frail and Bedazzled"
:
:''"frail and bedazzled owes a great debt to the band skunk, from whom i ripped part of this song off. skunk was probably the greatest band that i ever knew/saw that is virtually unknown-even less than
the frogs
''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in ...
. frogs. skunk. i miss skunk."''
Discography
;''Last American Virgin'' (1989)
;''Laid'' (1991)
[Ira A. Robbins, David Sprague The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock 1997 Page 142 "Laid (Twin\Tone) 1991 Singer/guitarist Matt Sweeney first came to light with the New Jersey punk band Skunk, whose two records feature sophomoric album titles with juvenile lyrics and aimless vocals to match, although both are stylistically diverse and Laid shows real progress toward a fully realized sound."]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skunk (band)
American post-hardcore musical groups
Musical groups from New Jersey
Musical groups established in 1986