Metal Disco In My Body

Did you know that "Metal makes the people come together/Metal turns the bourgeoisie into Metallers"? Well noise-mongering five piece Superskin do, and what's more, they intend proving it. So, say hello to the loudest Madge-covering, hard-rapping, tough rocking band ever to come out of Carrickfergus.

Theoretically, at the moment it's probably a good time to be a band like Superskin. There's a spectre haunting Europop, after all - a digit-flicking zeitgeist of feedback and big wigga trainers. Nu-metal, Rohypnol Rock, whatever you want to call it, is in the ascendancy and lots of white boys meshing hip hop with chugging chords are currently rolling, rolling, rolling in it.

Which brings us to Johnny, Jeff, Stevie, Stuart and Aidy. Their stated influences (The Beastie Boys, Senser, White Zombie and Public Enemy) come straight from the first chorus of the rap-metal fan hymn sheet. Their songs rock like bastards, and Johnny's stage-front raps are truly a thing to behold. However, if at this point you're a little bit worried that they pander to the laughable, lyrical conceits of some of their big league American cousins,

rest assured, they're a bit smarter

than that.

"We just don't want to do that," says Johnny. "There's no point in us being heartfelt and honest in what we play and then when it comes to the lyrics going on about bitches and ho's. As far as I'm concerned I'm a middle class guy from Carrickfergus and I'm not into pretending that I spend my time beating up women and shooting people. I mean we talk a lot of shit, as you can tell, but not shit like that."

Formed two years ago by Johnny and guitarist Stevie Aicken, the band was conceived as "something dead heavy and rhythmical" - a collision of hip hop and heavy rock. As anyone who's seen Top Of The Pops, though, in the last six weeks will tell you this can lead to the kind of calamitous marriage that would have even the Gallagher boys blanching. It can be terrible, can't it?

"Oh, it can be. One thing is, I've never been happy with rap metal bands - like with Limp Biszkit, there's something missing. When a hybrid is good - dance music with metal, guitars with techno - then it's really good, but like anything there is a lot of shit. We're trying for the perfect marriage. But it can be disastrous. I just don't think we are."

And they're not. Primarily because, when Superskin play live (as anyone who saw their recent victorious Plugged appearance will affirm) they can be absolutely blinding. Treating toilet gigs like sundown at Live Aid, the hilarious on-stage banter and frenetic inter-band bashing mark off Superskin's live routines as a welcome alternative to pallid, indie-boy mumble-fests. According to Johnny, it's all very deliberate and, if very real preconceptions are to be broken down, completely necessary.

"Sometimes we've had people, and I don't know if it's a compliment or not, but they tell us it almost looks choreographed. The thing is, we rehearse so hard that by the time we go on stage we know the songs inside out. That gives us a kinda freedom to put on a bit of a show. I can remember one girl coming up after a gig and telling us we sounded like a disco Mettallica. That was great. When people come to see us, even if they aren't really a metal crowd or a hip hop crowd, they can still get off on it because we don't see the point in doing a gig unless we give one thousand percent. Like, you could be a fucking Badly Drawn Boy fan and I reckon you'd still enjoy our shows. I know there's people on the hip hop side who wouldn't think twice about coming to see us, but if they do come, at least they'd know that we're genuine about it. There's snobbery everywhere but what are we going to do, change because of it? Fuck that, we'll do it anyway."

That's the attitude.

Superskin play Eamon Dorans on March 10th