Digging into the Skin Yard back catalog today, a band I have long thought of as the textbook definition of what a lot of Sub Pop-era "grunge" sounded like before Nirvana and Pearl Jam blew up. I would perhaps briefly summarize them as, "If early Soundgarden had a less talented copycat singer." Take those same de-tuned Sabbath by-way-of the Butthole Surfers riffs from Screaming Life/Fopp and Ultramega OK, set them to some lunkhead lyrics, and there you have it. Which is unfortunate, because even though Jack Endino is better known as a grunge producer, he actually showed off some pretty good lead guitar skills in this band. They're most likely best known as a footnote in the early careers of multiple future drummers, including Soundgarden/Temple of the Dog/Pearl Jam's Matt Cameron, Mother Love Bone's Greg Gilmore, POTUSA's Jason Finn, and Screaming Trees/Mad Season's Barrett Martin. The latter joined Skin Yard for their last two albums before they broke up in 1992, giving them the best rythym section they had during their run and resulting in their most "approachable" material (just like after he joined the Trees). Singer Ben McMillian went on to grunge-metal also rans Gruntruck with former drummer Scott McCullum, and bass player Daniel House retired from touring music to run seminal indie label C/Z Records full-time until it went bankrupt.
