Skeletons (also known as Skeletons and the Girl-Faced Boys, Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities, and Skeleton$) are an American entertainment unit from

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of the ...

. They currently live in New York City. Skeletons began as the solo project of Chicago native musician and filmmaker Matt Mehlan in 2001. In 2003, Mehlan released the albums ''Life and the Afterbirth'' and ''I'm At the Top of the World'' on Shinkoyo, an

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

-based music collective known for its focus on group improvisation and DIY ethics. Following the name change from Skeletons to Skeletons & The Girl-Faced Boys and the addition of a rotating cast of collaborators, the full-length ''

Git Git () is a distributed version control system: tracking changes in any set of files, usually used for coordinating work among programmers collaboratively developing source code during software development. Its goals include speed, data inte ...

'' was released on Ghostly International Records in June 2005. In 2007, Skeletons released the album ''

Lucas Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk" * ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities * ''L ...

'', also on Ghostly, under the name Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities. The album was recorded in the band's converted

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

warehouse studio and home, The Silent Barn. ''Lucas'' was described by Pitchfork as "an outsize global-a-go-go mélange of unceasing polyrhythms, Afrobeat guitars, free jazz, and

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

's approach to kitchen-sink percussion." A full-length entitled ''Money'' was released November 4, 2008, on

Tomlab Tomlab is a German record label based in Köln. It has released works by bands such as The Books, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees, Les Georges Leningrad, and acts associated with Blocks Recording Club, such as Final ...

. In 2009, Skeletons began playing occasional shows as a large ensemble titled Skeletons Big Band. Some of the compositions played by the Skeletons Big Band were eventually recorded and released on Skeletons' most recent album ''PEOPLE'', released on April 26, 2011. The rest of the material from the Skeleton Big Band shows will be released later in 2011 for a Skeletons Big Band album. Skeletons' most recent release was a full-length called ''If the Cat Come Back'', released on September 11, 2020. The album features Mehlan playing a custom-built instrument called the "Shtar".

Discography

* ''Everybody Dance With Your Steering Wheel'', Self-Released, 2002 * ''Life and the Afterbirth'', Shinkoyo, 2003 * ''I'm At The Top Of The World'', Shinkoyo, 2004 * ''

'',

Ghostly International Ghostly International is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by Samuel Valenti IV and currently headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye (a.k.a. Tadd Mullinix), Com Truise, Tycho, Gol ...

, 2005 * ''

'', Ghostly International, 2007 *
Deity of Hair
', free release on skeletons.tv, 2007 * ''MONEY'',

, 2008 * ''PEOPLE'', Shinkoyo, 2011 * ''The Bus'', Shinkoyo, 2012 (Skeleton$ Big Band) * ''Am I Home?'', Shinkoyo, 2016 * ''Soft Skills'', Shinkoyo, 2016 (collaboration with Baby & Hide) *''If the Cat Come Back'', Shinkoyo, 2020

External links

Shinyoko Collective website

Tomlab page

Pitchfork Review of "Lucas"

Profile of Skeletons on Dusted magazine, written by Alexander Provan

References

Musical groups from New York City Musical groups from Ohio {{US-experimental-band-stub