Skin of Evil

Blackout Beach is the solo nom de guerre of Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes, Swan Lake). Skin of Evil is remarkable in the sense that a. it contains a story, and b. that it sticks to the story; a rare occurrence in these free times. 'Donna' is the subject, and each of her lovers (past and present) says their peace in song (Donna gets her song, too). Composed, played and recorded entirely by Mercer alone, these songs revel in the proto-punk darkness of the heady Cleveland axis (e.g. Peter Laughner, David Thomas) with a minimal, textural and almost Suicide-ish sense of pop form and the experimental nature of contemporary Scott Walker works.