The new incarnation of Skunkhour moved away from the rap and headed towards a darker, deeper, rockier groove. The result was their third album, 'Chin Chin', produced by Magoo (Regurgitator, Powderfinger).

"Chin Chin is a weird hybrid album with all these dark bits and heavy intricate bits. We were trying to erase the previous personality of the band" - Aya.

The album (issued in July 1997; national #34 in August) produced the CD singles 'Breathing through my Eyes' (May), 'Weightlessness' (August) and 'Morning Rolls' (November). 'Weightlessness' logged the #93 position on the 1997 Triple J Hottest 100 list. Skunkhour issued 'Tomorrow's Too Soon for Goodbye' in August 1998. Percussionist Chris Simms was added for live shows.

Skunkhour was relatively ignored by the Australian media, which resulted in mediocre record sales. They considered basing themselves in Europe, where their records sold greater numbers:

Skunkhour are leaving Sydney. The reason, says Larkin, is the difficulty they have had achieving recognition, and record sales, in their own backyard, despite an acceptance as one of the country's most creative rock music exponents. "I've felt at times we haven't been championed or thought of as a long-term proposition by a lot of the media in this country. It's pretty hard to play new music and get a go from most radio stations in Australia." -- Aya.

"We can't keep touring Australia because we're not Savage Garden and we're not Tina Arena, who's music falls into a mainstream thing - which is what sells. If you want to sell a lot of records in Australia, you have to go completely into that mainstream thing, and if you're in some other 'box', then there is a roof and only so much you can sell. We do O.K., but we need more people - that's Europe, that's America, that's Japan." -- Michael.

READ ON...