Skinned Teen was a riot grrrl band from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England, active in the early 1990s. They have been cited as an inspiration by

Beth Ditto Mary Beth Patterson (born February 19, 1981), known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer and songwriter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and T ...

Kathleen Hanna Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician, artist, feminist activist, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band B ...

Gina Birch Gina Birch is an English musician and filmmaker, best known as a founding member of post-punk rock band, the Raincoats. Born in Nottingham, Birch attended Nottingham High School for Girls, and later the Hornsey School of Art, where she form ...

and Josephine Olausson of

Love Is All Love Is All may refer to: Bands *Love Is All (band), Swedish indie rock band Films * ''Love is All'' (2007 film), Dutch film * ''Love Is All'' (2014 film), a documentary film by Kim Longinotto Songs *"Love Is All", a song by The Action *"Love Is ...

History

Skinned Teen was formed by teenagers Layla Gibbon, Flossy White and Esme Young in London in 1992. Inspired by US Riot Grrrl,

Huggy Bear Huggy may refer to: * Huggy (Pillow Pal) *Huggy Boy * Huggy Face *Huggy Leaver *Huggy Ragnarsson *Huggy Wuggy, an antagonist in the horror video game ''Poppy Playtime ''Poppy Playtime'' is an episodic horror video game developed and publishe ...

and

The Shaggs The Shaggs were an American rock band formed in Fremont, New Hampshire, in 1965. The band was composed of the sisters Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin (vocals and lead guitar), Betty Wiggin (vocals and rhythm guitar), Helen Wiggin (drums) and, later, Rac ...

, the band were offered their first gig after approaching Kathleen Hanna following a Huggy Bear/

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered th ...

all-girl show on their 1993 UK tour. They recorded and released their debut ''Karate Hairdresser'' EP later in 1993 on Soul Static Sound, and recorded a Peel Session in December of that year. Their early sound has been described as 'reminiscent of both

The Slits The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...

and Kleenex'.Monem, Nadine (ed.)(2007) ''Riot Grrrl: Revolution Girl Style Now!'', Black Dog Publishing, Layla Gibbon also contributed to an EP by The Element Of Crime (featuring members of Huggy Bear and Linus) and produced riot grrrl

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

s including ''Drop Babies''. Following appearances on joint/compilation releases with contemporaries such as

Comet Gain Comet Gain are a British indie pop band, formed by singer-songwriter and guitarist David Christian (aka David Feck/Charlie Damage) in 1992, with musical influences including post-punk and northern soul. Pitchfork called them "one of the most un ...

and Yummy Fur, Skinned Teen's debut album ''Bazooka Smooth!'' (a split with Raooul) was released on

Lookout Records Lookout Records (stylized as Lookout! Records) was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California and later in Berkeley, California, Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having ...

in 1994, showcasing a more experimental range of musical styles. Despite their short lifespan and relative obscurity, Skinned Teen can be acclaimed as the first pure UK riot grrrl band, as the other UK bands initially associated with the genre (e.g. Huggy Bear,

Voodoo Queens The Voodoo Queens were a North London-based indie punk/riot grrrl band, who reached number one in the Indie Charts in 1993. History The band was composed of Anjali Bhatia (guitar, vocals), Ella Guru (guitar, backing vocals), Stefania 'Steffi ...

Mambo Taxi Mambo Taxi were an English, London-based British indie band, linked with riot grrrl, who formed in 1991 and split up in 1995.Mason, StewartMambo Taxi Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-01 History Mambo Taxi were inspired by the UK garage ...

Linus Linus, a male given name, is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Linos''. It's a common given name in Sweden. The origin of the name is unknown although the name appears in antiquity both as a musician who taught Apollo and as a son of Apollo who di ...

) had previous experience in the indie scene. Their youth and

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

spirit remain an inspiration to musicians and fans of the genre and echoes of their sound can be heard in bands to the present day. According to Sam Knee, Skinned Teen was "a rare UK adopter of the primitive punk assault of the DC/Olympia scenes" and together with Huggy Bear "represented a brief return to true DIY youth culture during the early '90s." Following the dissolution of the band and a move to Brighton, Gibbon produced ''Chimps'' zine and released an eponymous EP on

Slampt Slampt (also Slampt Underground Organisation) was a record label set up in Newcastle, England in 1992. The label is perhaps best known for releasing Kenickie's debut EP. Slampt also released the debut single by The Yummy Fur, a band who later ...

records as Petty Crime, a trio which included

Peter Rojas Peter Rojas (born March 18, 1975) is the co-founder of technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, as well as the video gaming blog Joystiq (2004). Education Rojas attended Harvard University from 1993 to 1997 where he managed the school's radio sta ...

on drums. Later based in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, Gibbon formed Shady Ladies with the Yao sisters from Emily's Sassy Lime, and Modern Reveries with Miya Osaki (

The Chinkees The Chinkees are an American ska punk band fronted by Mike Park (formerly of Skankin' Pickle). The group debuted with 1998's ''The Chinkees Are Coming!'', and followed with 1999's ''Peace Through Music'' and 2002's ''Searching for a Brighter Fut ...

) and

Vice Cooler Vice Cooler is an American musician, music video director, and photographer. He has been recognized by people like High Places and Henry Rollins as an "inspiration". Peaches has crowned him as the world's greatest performer. Band history Coole ...

. Modern Reveries released an EP on

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

's Local Kid records. Gibbon went on to edit ''

Maximumrocknroll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly zine of punk subculture. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and hardcore music, and primarily featu ...

'' magazine and as of 2017 was playing in and recording with girlSperm (a.k.a. gSp) with

Tobi Vail Tobi Celeste Vail (born July 20, 1969) is an American independent musician, music critic and feminist activist from Olympia, Washington. She was a central figure in the riot grrl scene—she coined the spelling of "grrl"—and she started the zi ...

and Marissa Magic. Skinned Teen made an appearance in ''It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill In The U.K.'', a documentary produced by

Lucy Thane Lucy Thane (born 1967) is a British documentary filmmaker, event producer and performer, living in Folkestone. Her films include ''It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK'' (1993) and ''She's Real (Worse than Queer)'' (1997). Life and work Thane ...

in 1993.

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...

of Sonic Youth chose a Skinned Teen song ("Pillowcase Kisser") for the retrospective compilation album '' Rough Trade 30'' in 2006, which was later used on the soundtrack of a Skins episode in 2009.

Discography

*''Karate Hairdresser'' EP (1993), Soul Static Sound *''Some Hearts Paid To Lie'' EP (1993), Wiiija Pussycat_Trash,_Linus.html" ;"title="Red_Monkey_(band).html" ;"title="plit with Comet Gain, Red Monkey (band)">Pussycat Trash, Linus">Red_Monkey_(band).html" ;"title="plit with Comet Gain, Red Monkey (band)">Pussycat Trash, Linus*''Bazooka Smooth!'' LP/CD (1994), Lookout Records [split with Raooul] *''Total Tiger Beat'' Cassette (1995), Spazoom *''Skinned Teen'' (2020), Vague Absolutes [peel session recordings]

Compilation appearances

*''Elastic Jet Mission'' LP (1994),

(also inc. Yummy Fur,

Lungleg Lung Leg were a Scottish indie band, formed in 1994 and disbanded in 1999. They were influenced by Post Punk, C86, riot grrrl and the Fire Engines. History Lung Leg formed in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, with a lineup of McKeown ("Jane Egypt" ...

, Golden Starlet, Milky Wimpshake,

Kenickie Kenickie were an English four-piece pop punk band from Sunderland. The band was formed in 1994 and consisted of lead vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Lauren Laverne (b. Lauren Gofton), drummer Johnny X (real name Pete Gofton, Lauren's brother) ...

) *''Battle of the Bands'' 7" (1998), Super 8 (also inc. The Rondelles)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skinned Teen All-female punk bands Riot grrrl bands Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom