Singer and bassist Doug Pinnick's side project, Poundhound, serves as a satisfactory break from the chunky Beatlesesque music that King's X began making more than two decades ago - essentially creating a distinct sound all their own. But, like Moonflower Lane, the 1998 solo project by King's X guitarist Ty Tabor, Poundhound's second record, the curiously named Pineappleskunk, lacks the direction, intensity and overwhelming melodies of a traditional King's X album. Pineappleskunk, in particular, sounds even less accessible to King's X fans than the first Poundhound album, Massive Grooves from the Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music. For the record, Pinnick wrote, arranged, recorded, mixed, produced and performed all 16 songs here - except for drums, which were provided by King's X-er Jerry Gaskill.
Answering-machine messages and 30-second tracks are sprinkled in between some memorable songs - notably "She" and "Smearing" - and a handful of tunes could even pass as King's X outtakes, including "Oh My Soul," "Someone," "Pineapple" and "Mind." But for the most part, Pineappleskunk features offbeat offerings that, if anything, identify Pinnick as an artist who continues to evolve. Pineappleskunk also is a very personal album, addressing Pinnick's struggles with his faith, his homosexuality and his mortality. Ultimately, though, threads of hope emerge from the minor-key cacophony that is this album, culminating in the opening lines to Pineappleskunk's closing track, "Eventime:" "When everything is going wrong/You got to stand and make it right/You got to do it on your own/You got to stand and fight."
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