It's been often said that
Skin Yard was ahead of their time. They were grunge before grunge-hopefuls started scouring pawnshops for second-hand guitars, and they were stoner rock before retro-rockers began scouring thrift stores for bell-bottom jeans. And on their second to last release, 1991's
1,000 Smiling Knuckles, the group manages to touch upon both of the aforementioned styles with great aplomb. Kicking things off with a title track that sounds like an exact replica of
Monster Magnet, the album also sees the group touch upon funk ("River Throat"), math rock ("Living Pool"), and a tune which includes some great
Meat Puppets-esque guitar work courtesy of
Jack Endino ("Material Freak"). If
Skin Yard hadn't gone the way of the dodo not long after the release of
1,000 Smiling Knuckles, there's a fair chance that they'd have rubbed shoulders with the great grunge giants at the top of the charts. This album is certainly proof. ~ Greg Prato