Clitrock, Britrock, call them what you will - Skunk Anansie are the most explosive, unpredictable and in-your-face rock band in Britain.

"Fearsome, utterly unique and ever so slightly deranged" - The NME.
"Your gob will be smacked" - The Face.
"They're a band with something to say and they know how to say it" - Kerrang!
"Skunk Anansie? They're fucking brilliant!" - eh, Chris Evans.

Everbody's been talking about Skunk Anansie these past two years. Having formed in London in February 1994, they signed to One Little Indian Records a mere five months later. Their first two singles, `Selling Jesus' and `I Can Dream' skimmed the UK top 40 and the debut album, `Paranoid and Sunburnt' was certified gold and has now sold 200,000 copies in the UK alone. They've had two top 20 hits this year with `Weak' and `Charity'. Kerrang! readers have voted Skunk Anansie Best New British Band in 1995 and Best British Live Act in 1996.

And now comes their second album, released on October 7th, it's bigger and better and bolder and it's called `Stoosh'. "Stoosh is Jamaican patois," says Skin. It means something is well-presented but still a bit rough. Like you could be sharply dressed but still look dangerous." Sound familiar?

`Stoosh' is the first thing that Skunk have recorded with their definitive band line up which is: Skin (vocals), Ace (guitar), Cass (bass), and Mark (drums). They cut the album with producer Garth Richardson straight off the back of a hectic world tour- and got the whole thing done in just five weeks. So if `Stoosh'sounds a bit mad in places...

"It was intense, nobody slept for a month," says Ace. "We recorded the whole band together, live, to get a really powerful, exciting what's-happening-now sound." This sound incorporates everything from punk-inspired aggro-rock to raw soul and wicked chill-out grooves.

"This album is radically different to the first one," explains Ace. "We wanted even more feeling on this record, but it's so varied, I don't really know what kind of band we are now. Our stuff is always powerful - even the softer stuff is deep." Skin sums up `Stoosh'simply: "It kicks you right in the face. It's got power emotion, humour. We're also quite a melodic band, and we really wanted to bring that out."

`Stoosh' kicks off in typically outrageous Skunk style with a bangin' little tune entitled, `Yes, It's Fucking Political'. It is Skin's response to criticism of Skunk Anansie's agit-pop politics. We've been slagged off for being political. I hate that kind of argument against bands. Music doesn't have to be about feeling good all the time. The minuite you run away from politics, you run away from life. `We Love Your Apathy' is about the attitude of British people who've just gotten used to being kicked in the bollocks all the time. They just take it".

Political awareness is just one side of Skin and Skunk Anansie. On `Stoosh' Skin also gets her teeth into love and sex on songs like `Milk Is My Sugar' and `Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)'. "I really tried to simplify things on these songs" she says, "so hopefully people will understand me more. I want the emotion in these songs to really get to people."

The first single from the album, `All I Want' charted at number 12 in September with `Stoosh' entering the album charts at number 9 in October. Follow up single `Twisted (Everyday Hurts)' became the band's fourth Top 30 hit in November. Throughout the year, the Skunks kept on gigging with a major