Warthur
Before Skunk Anansie broke up for the first time, they went out on a high. Post-Orgasmic Chill is a skillful followup to the classic Stoosh, and finds the band demonstrating their effortless mastery of atmosphere and mood in a hard rock/alternative metal context.
The angry political rants are once again present and correct - one of the best this time is On My Hotel TV, in which Skin holds up the media's bemused reaction to the band as an example of precisely the social evils their songs were directed at - as is the more emotional and personal material which became the focus of Stoosh. (Tracy's Flaw is perhaps the band's most tender and beautiful love song, whilst Secretly offers the most emotionally raw and heart-wrenching performance of Skin's career.) On top of that, the band begin to introduce some decidedly strange twists to their music - best showcased on the opening track, the downright sinister Charlie Big Potato - and it'd have been interesting to see where such experiments might have led.
Whilst I don't think it's quite the masterpiece Stoosh was - in particular, it begins to lose steam towards the end - Post-Orgasmic Chill proves that Skunk Anansie were a far more musically versatile and intelligent act than they were often given credit for.