Oh and that Karlheinz bloke has got his own MySpace 

Hearts beating is currently playing on http://www.insanitorium.co.uk/radio.htm talking of which look out for an exclusive soundbite thingy which will appear on their next programme change. 

Stan managed a full rehearsal last week and we are all raring to go at Wasted and Slimes.....]

News and reviews

A couple of new reviews both in German.

www.transmission-magazin.net I have taken the liberty of translating this, but please bear in mind my german is not of the highest standard but I think It's a fair if not altogether literal translation.

What can I say about this? These 3 songs are really sharp! If the same level is maintained throughout the album you can safely file this with the 80s classics Burning Oils and Futile Combat. The first track Heartsbeating shows the Skels at their dancefloor best. This track joins their list of club hits. If Hands on the Clock or Promised Land gets you going then you will like Heartsbeating. The second track Lullaby of Hate is a beautifully paced ballad in ¾ time, very dark. The wave guitar  sends you into a dream, however what makes Lullaby of  Hate special is the inclusion of a saxophone.  Even if its a bit bit corny its got bags of 80s feeling. Nightclubbing next, Iggy Pops bar music. The Piano tinkles away untiringly, the Horns hiss ( spit ),  the  Guitarist forces sounds from his unwilling dearest

These 3 songs make you hungry for more!

Max Bringmann.

And from http://metal.de/cdreviews.php4?was=review&id=6382

Likewise this is my translation:

Here in spite of the Asiatic tinged cover we have no offering from a present day popular Japanese Rock Group, rather instead of which we have a Gothic band which already existed in the 80s and had been disbanded for a good 15 years. The association with oriental musical is still valid however as the thin smoky voice of frontwoman Claire is a good octave higher than the accepted pain threshold in Europe, this however is actually a case of not being accustomed to it.

After a while the band score with their simple compositions which lie somewhere between rock and wave. Like other British bands the opener Faithless Whore is pleasantly built out of scarcely more than one and a half riffs, continuing on in a primitive rock groove with Lies and Hearts Beating. Various time changes, marked dynamics between verse and chorus as well as the distinctive voicings of the aforementioned singer pulls everything together into a unified record. After the very 80s Nightclubbing a short excursion into an atmospheric wave feel, which stick out compared to the rocksongs and detract a little from the listening pleasure. After the hypnotic ¾ time Lullaby of hate Sakura ends in exemplery fashion with Gut Feeling.

All in all despite real quality the target group must try this because of the distinctive singing. If your bag is deep bass voices you may have to give this a couple of listens.

Joneleth.

Finally Stan is still laid up and not able to move because of his ankle, but once again thanks to everyone who has sent their best wishes!

We will be rescheduling the 100 Club for later in the year. All tickets remain valid or  refund will be given at point of purchase.

Also thanks to everyone who sent their love and best wishes to Stan he really appreciates it.

We just found out today that what Stan thought was a badly sprained ankle
was in fact  broken. So bad in fact that he will be undergoing surgery
tomorrow to rebuild it. It is highly unlikely that he will have made a full
enough recovery to make the show on the 18th so we have taken the reluctant
decision to postpone.

On a plus point just received my copy of DropDead Magazine www.dropdeadmagazine.com and very fine it is too!

Karlheinz

What a relief - this is good”

“When a band you loved and admired brings out there first new album for 20 years you are naturally entitled to feel apprehensive. Especially when the original vocalist no longer features in the line up. Well the guys and the bundle of energy have produced the goods with a self financed and produced gem. It opens in uncompromising fashion with the storming Faithless Whore which in my opinion is as fine a piece of PostPunk/Goth/Deathrock as you'll find and ending with an increasingly manic version of Devo's gut feeling. On the way they give us the Eastern Promise of Delerium, completely sleaze up Iggy Pop's nightclubbing featuring a really fine vocal from Claire on this one. Not to mention the inspired re workings of two of their older numbers Lies and All my Best Friends. Best Friends actually predates the Skels but somehow sounds really contemporary to me and is a live favourite. Thank you, no really thank you very much. ”

From: Slapgoth, Leeds

Can't help but admire the guy's taste :-)

Sakura availability is growing you can even get your club card points by buying from Tesco Extra online. 

Sakura is also available on i Tunes in most regions. 

http://www.emusic.com/artist/11592/11592668.html

and

http://www.napster.com/search_music.html?op=search&country_code=US&explicit=Y&artist_name=Skeletal+Family&x=32&y=9

For full playlists see http://www.livejournal.com/users/natashameltdown/

Damn fine show Natasha

Sakura is now available to download from http://music.msn.com/album/?album=43492962 

Read this http://www.starvox.net/crypt/wgt2005/wgt4.htm

Merge with the Multiverse at www.themultiverse.org. A new project from ex March Violets guitarist, Tom Ashton. Mp3's and cd's for sale. 'The Multiverse mine a deep torrent of layered ambient guitar, peppered with dissonant electronics and Ashton's own haunting vocals.' - Splendid Magazine, 2005.

http://www.sounds2move.de/start.htm

German. Click on open airs 2005 on the left hand side then Festivalbericht on the right 

http://www.rosaselvaggia.com/treffen05live12.htm

Italian

 Some UK  dates pencilled in for later in the year. Watch this space!

More Leipzig Pix http://www.movinghands.net/photos/detail.asp?folder=WGT2005_1

In German 

The new Skels CD Sakura is now available and so far been well received. People who have got it say they can't stop playing it which sounds fair enough to me! See Press for first review.

We are now looking at various distribution options.

WGT 2005 was a great success with a great audience. We really liked the atmosphere at the Parkbühne. Pix are available at:

http://www.datapix-agency.com/news1.htm

http://www.blacksight.de/

http://www.darkview.de/

http://www.metalius.de/gallery/

http://www.death-rock.de/

If you know of any more please let us know.

Skeletal Family are now also on MySpace. Click here to join and become a Skeletal Family friend.

Finally, now that Sakura is finished and the next Album not started (yes we have more songs in the pipeline) We are looking to get a schedule together. We already have some at a tentative stage. Don't forget European bookings are through http://www.wod.de for others please contact skeletalfamily@hotmail.com

Hopefully some more European dates for later on in the year, but still very much in the planning stage.