When you listen to the Skintones you might want to ask a few questions. 1) How can three guys ( Tony Leskinen, Pete Ross, and Darwin Sampson) sound like five? 2) What the hell is this? Well to sound like more you gotta make more noise, and for the second question....they call it 'Munkal' which is a mix of punk and metal, throw in a little comedy and that's what Skintones has created.
These regular guys from Madison, Wisconsin still work day jobs and do their shows on weekends. They call the indie label 'Crustacean Records' their home and are steadily building a fan base in Wisconsin. Their a little rough and the lyrics are semi-political, but the music is so energetic and the melodies are so tight that you might not notice the first time you listen, which goes to say you'll have to listen more than once.
The album kicks off fast with "Basket Case", pointing out how the government is far from being sane. It then moves into "Swing and a Toast", loaded with drug references using the line 'I said it don't hurt nobody but me'. "Baba Ganoush" is a play on organized religion while "Million $ Itch" is about wanting expensive things and not being able to afford them.
"Ray Gun" is one of the comedic songs about fighting off an alien invasion boasting the line 'These creatures can scarcely stand up against heavy machine gun fire', "Rocka Locka" is another laced with comedy lyrics like 'The Skintones are riding their camels, riding across the desert, hijacking herds of camels, crashing into the sand dunes'.
As I listened to this album I realized that even though they still work their day jobs, if they keep making music like this they won't need to for long. Skintones and their 'Munkal' music is something that is not to be missed, I'm looking forward to hearing more from these guys.