Skunk Anansie

British alternative quartet Skunk Anansie delivered what its frontwoman Skin labeled clit-rock, a fusion of heavy metal and Black feminist rage. After mulling the invitation for more than twelve months, Skin first lent her voice to a classmate’s high-school group. When that ensemble dissolved, its participants lost touch for six years until Skin, bassist Cass, guitarist Ace, and drummer Robbie France crossed paths again by accident; France departed in 1995 and was succeeded by Mark Richardson. The band’s moniker derived from West Indian Anansi the Spider-Man stories, altered slightly in spelling and prefixed with “Skunk” for added edge.

Skunk Anansie debuted onstage at London’s Splash club in March 1994, then spent six weeks tracking its first album, Paranoid and Sunburnt, inside a reportedly haunted house beyond the city limits. Its opening single, “Selling Jesus,” appeared on the Strange Days film soundtrack. Stoosh arrived in 1996, followed three years later by Post Orgasmic Chill. The quartet disbanded in 2001, prompting Skin to launch a solo career with Fleshwounds in 2003 and Fake Chemical State in 2006. Early 2009 brought a reunion that filled venues and yielded three fresh songs for the retrospective Smashes & Trashes; the positive experience led the members to remain together and complete Wonderlustre, issued in autumn 2010. The track “You Saved Me” featured in Zack Snyder’s 2011 film Sucker Punch, which also included the band’s remix of Björk’s “Army of Me.”

Former drummer Robbie France died in January 2011 when his aorta ruptured. Black Traffic, the group’s fifth studio album, surfaced in September 2012 and was supported by a lengthy European tour whose lead single was “Sad, Sad, Sad.” The live recording An Acoustic Skunk Anansie: Live in London captured a April 2013 performance at Cadogan Hall, after which Anarchytecture emerged in 2016. The following year the band issued 25live@25, a collection spanning twenty-five years of concert material.