release date: Oct. 7, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: GGGarth (aka Garth Richardson)
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Yes It's Fucking Political" (4 / 5) - 2. "All I Want" - 3. "She's My Heroine" - 5. "Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)" (4 / 5) - 6. "Twisted (Everyday Hurts)" - 8. "Brazen (Weep)"
2nd studio album by Skunk Anansie following 13 months after Paranoid & Sunburnt is like the debut issued on One Little Indian in the UK and in North America and on the European continent by Virgin.
Stylistically, this follows closely on the path laid out on the debut. The band line-up is intact, only credits have changed more apparent. On the first album, the majority of the songs are credited Skin and Len (Leonard) Arran with Skin as songwriter and Arran as composer - on Stoosh, things have changed somewhat with Arran and Skin still credited five songs and the remaining six compositions are credited the band members Skin, Ace, and Cass, - i.e. vocalist, guitarist, and bassist, excluding drummer Mark Richardson from any songs credits.
Stoosh is basically more of the same, although, you'll find this one less radical in terms of lyrical content - giving the impression of more subtle protest - and less noisy, however, my initial verdict left me rather underwhelmed. The front cover more or less states that it's quite aggressive but it's not only that; and I think that was the reason I felt let down by what it signaled or what I expected from this noisy quartet but fact is, there's more room for variation, which I think I mistook for 'uneven'. At least it's more coherent when comparing to the debut. Over time, I also think the album has matured better, which means it isn't nearly as off as I felt back then. Actually, it's not off at all. I purchased both albums but Stoosh had me write the band off for some years, and it wasn't until after the reformation that I went back in the band's catalogue and learned about their third album out, which for more than a decade remained the band's final but generally has been regarded the band's best. It's also the only by Skunk Anansie to be inlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", which I still find difficult to comprehend.
In the 90s, I would have written this one off as a minor release with only two good songs (#tracks 1 & #5), but in retrospect I prefer this over the debut, though, I still don't consider it entirely great but definitely worth knowing, and for someone unfamiliar with Skunk Anansie, I think this is a good place to start.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Sputnik Music 3 / 5 stars ]
