Mother Skinny is the eighth studio album released by the Ohio rock band Circus Devils

Circus Devils

Circus Devils is an American rock band with experimental/ psychedelic styles founded in 2001 by Robert Pollard, former lead singer and songwriter of the Dayton, Ohio band Guided by Voices. Members include Todd Tobias , and Tim Tobias...

 in March, 2010. All songs on Mother Skinny were written and performed by Robert Pollard

Robert Pollard

Robert Pollard is an American rock musician and singer-songwriter who is the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices, who disbanded in 2004, only to reform in 2010...

, Todd Tobias

Todd Tobias

Todd Tobias is a record producer and musician/ multi-instrumentalist best known for his work with Robert Pollard and his band Guided by Voices. Other projects include Circus Devils, Clouds Forming Crowns, the Sleeptalkers, The Library is on Fire, the Celebrity Pilots, Kramies, Brian Lisik, Slark...

, and Tim Tobias. The album is a return to the aggressive rock sound of the band's earlier albums, following the mostly acoustic 2009 album Gringo

Gringo (album title)

Gringo is the seventh studio album released by the Ohio rock band Circus Devils in 2009. All songs on Gringo were written and performed by Robert Pollard, Todd Tobias, and Tim Tobias...

.

Reaction

Mother Skinny is just plain sinister art rock, that will keep your ear to your speaker so that you don't miss a beat. Robert Pollard has never sounded more scary with his evil cackle on "Germ Circus" or his stretched out slow delivery in "Lurking", which feels like he is literally and weirdly right behind you. The record is more of a return to their earlier work but adds in very strong thumping beats and guitar riffs, that absolutely drive each of the twenty tracks down your throat. Once again, Mother Skinny is a record that separates itself from the Circus Devil's vast catalog and will be a fun ride for anybody who dares to put it in their player!

– The Fire Note

These kooky songs pack an awkward punch, and make some room for us, the listeners, to immerse ourselves in sounds that are more accessible without being any less weird. If “icky-sticky” kook-pop and trudging, druggy rock are the two poles of the record , then the Circus Devils travel the huge space between them pretty well.

– Matthew Fiander for Pop Matters

Mother Skinny is immediate, moody, nightmarish, morbid, and darkly humorous. Paranoia is the keyword this time. Everywhere people are trying to get you, to put you in a freezer or a cave. There’s an insect lurking, a germ circus “always around” and “eating up the kids”. The ominous “We Don’t Need to Know Who You Are” suggests a secret society. The music is epic as always, and fierce, with thick heavy metal riffs. If it’s a metal album it’s also a circus album, like Tom Waits and Black Sabbath meeting in a cavern. Sometimes it seems like Circus Devils are rewriting hard-rock history as being all about giant spiders (“8 Legs to Love”)…but wait, isn’t that what it was always about? Mother Skinny is a sick, fun romp, an excuse to indulge in the scariest and weirdest of imagery.

– Dave Heaton for Erasing Clouds

Track listing

1. "Sub Rat"
2. "Lurking"
3. "Wolf Man Chords"
4. "Hard Art (Hard All Day)"
5. "Get On It"
6. "His Troops are Loyal"
7. "Kingdoms of Korea"
8. "Bam Bam bam"
9. "The Germ Circus"
10. "8 Legs to Love You"
11. "17 Days on the Pole"
12. "Freezer Burn"
13. "We Don't Need to Know Who You Are"
14. "A Living Necklace of Warts"
15. "The New Nostalgia"
16. "The Cave of Disappearing Men"
17. "Mother Skinny"
18. "All the Good Ones Are Gone"
19. "Pledge"
20. "Shut Up"

External links

• the Official Circus Devils site
• [ Circus Devils at allmusic.com]