Binary: "You Need the Blue Key"

I do not know what this "blue key" refers to, but then I'm equally perplexed as to how something that started off as a brazen Suicide cop somehow morphed into first a Jesus and Mary Chain tribute and, finally, a 90's industrial rock track. All bands wear their influences on their sleeves somewhat, but these fuckers have to dress in layers to do it.

St. Vincent: "Krokodil" / "Grot"

Well this is a bit of a departure. Annie Clark steps out from her usual baroque Kate Bush steelo and gets down with an electro-punk, almost NIN-evoking hardcore sound. These two songs represent both sides of a 7" released for - what else? - Record Store Day, so there seems to be a dearth of information on who produced and played on these two cuts, but the no bullshit brutality here isn't entirely unprecedented: "Northern Lights" off of last year's Strange Mercy showed a darker, more guitar-oriented side of St. Vincent, and if you want to go all the way back to 2007, "Your Lips Are Red" - while lacking in bludgeoning guitar - certainly had a more sinister, Siouxsie Sioux kinda thing going on; but "Krokodil" and "Grot" at the very least take those rare glimpses into Clark's psyche to an entirely different level. Side project?

1990: "Spasmolytic", Skinny Puppy

Rightfully heralded as one of the elite, most influential (electro-) industrial bands of the 80s, Skinny Puppy had long since planted their flag by the dawn of the 90s, establishing themselves as a difficult cult act with no hint of grooming themselves for mainstream success. Too Dark Park turned out to be every bit as murky and inaccessible as their previous records, but it was hard to deny by this point that their songwriting skills had improved immensely since the early minimalism of "The Choke" and "Deep Down Trauma Hounds".

Skinny Puppy - helmed by Nivek Ogre {a.k.a. ohGr) and cEvin Key - extended their agitprop aesthetic into their stage show as well, screening confrontational footage consisting of Iraq war footage and Budd Dwyer's on air suicide amongst other discomforting visuals. The music video for "Spasmolytic" was directed by obscure exploitation auteur Jim Van Bebber, who at that point was known almost solely for the hysterically violent 1988 gang war film Deadbeat at Dawn. Van Bebber and Skinny Puppy... an inspired pairing.