Live Skull

Last updated
Live Skull
Liveskull82.jpg
The original band in the stairway leading to Mark’s loft on Great Jones St, taken by John Chimples
Background information
Origin New York City
Genres Post-punk, noise rock, no wave, experimental rock, alternative rock
Years active1982–1990, 2016–present
LabelsMassive Records
Homestead
Caroline
What Goes On
Desire Records
Bronson Recordings
MembersMark C.
Richard Hutchins
Kent Heine
Dave Hollinghurst
Past membersTom Paine
Marnie Jaffe
James Lo
Thalia Zedek
Dan Braun
Julie Hair
Sonda Andersson

Live Skull is a post-punk/experimental rock band from New York City, formed in 1982. [1]

Contents

In an overview of their abrasive no wave-influenced music, Trouser Press said, "As part of the same New York avant-noisy scene that spawned Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch, and Swans, Live Skull records come complete with creepy lyrics, circular melodies and nod-out drum beats designed to lull you into their macabre world". [2]

History

Live Skull formed in downtown New York City in 1982, founded by tandem guitarists Mark C. and Tom Paine (birth name: Lance Goldenberg). [3] Both had previously been members of San Francisco band Crop along with brothers Ivan and Andrew Nahem (later of Ritual Tension ), before moving to New York in 1980.

Live Skull's earliest lineup included Julie Hair on vocals and Dan Braun (formerly of Spinal Root Gang and Circus Mort) on drums. They were soon joined by drummer James Lo and bassist Marnie Greenholz. With this lineup of the band, lead vocals were shared by C., Greenholz and Paine. [4]

In 1984, Live Skull released their self-titled debut 12-inch EP on Massive Records. After signing with prominent indie label Homestead Records, they released their 1985 debut full-length, Bringing Home the Bait . The follow-up, 1986's Cloud One , featured slightly more accessible song structures. A live album titled Don't Get Any on You was recorded at CBGB later that year, followed by the Pusherman 12-inch EP.

Thalia Zedek joined the band as lead singer in 1987, taking over most of the vocal duties so that the other members could concentrate on their instruments. [5] Zedek had previously played in the Boston-area post-punk outfits White Women, Dangerous Birds and Uzi. The band also replaced Lo with ex-Ruin drummer Richard Hutchins. [6] Zedek and Hutchins debuted on 1987's Dusted , which spawned a black-and-white music video for the song "5-D". This video later appeared on the Twelve O'Clock High Volume 1 (1989, Atavistic) video compilation.

The group next signed to the larger Caroline Records label, which issued 1988's six-song Snuffer 12-inch EP. Greenholz subsequently left and was replaced by Sonda Andersson, a former member of Rat at Rat R and cousin of avant-garde composer Glenn Branca. Released in 1989, Positraction was a more accessible, song-oriented effort that continued their generally positive critical reaction. Live Skull disbanded in 1990 due to sustained lack of commercial success, with Paine deciding to focus on an alternate career.

Post-breakup and other activity

C. was involved in various other New York music projects, including Spoiler; Int'l Shades (with ex-Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert), which released the Hash Wednesday album in 2005 on Cass Records; and Outpost 13 (including Kent Heine of The Holy Ghost and Stuart Argabright of Ike Yard).

Paine received a Master of Fine Arts degree in film at the University of South Florida in Tampa, and writes about world cinema.

Braun later played with Swans (for a short time in 1982, and then again on their 1991 album Body to Body, Job to Job ), the Del-Byzanteens, Glenn Branca, Radio Firefight and Deep Six.

Hair later played with 3 Teens Kill 4 and Bite Like a Kitty.

C. and Greenholz briefly reunited in the band Fuse, which released a double 7-inch EP, Dana's Room, in 1992 on the PCP Entertainment label.

Greenholz, under the name Marnie Jaffe, co-founded Fairmount Girls in Cincinnati, Ohio, and played on their debut album, Eleven Minutes to Anywhere, released on Deary Me Records in 1999.

Lo later drummed for Wider and then for Chavez in the mid-1990s.

Zedek moved back to Boston and fronted the blues-rock-oriented Come, who signed to Matador Records. She has released several solo albums since Come's 2001 demise.

Hutchins performed for several years in Of Cabbages and Kings, Phideaux and Digitalis. The latter band featured John Meyers (another former Rat at Rat R member) and Reverb Motherfuckers guitarist Skinny John, as well as early Live Skull member Hair. Digitalis split up around 1998, and Hair and Hutchins married in 2000. The couple were both members of Hungry March Band for many years. In the late 2000s, Hutchins was also a member of Lubricated Goat and Lubricated Goat frontman Stu Spasm's side project LoveStruck. Hutchins currently performs in the Art Gray Noizz Quintet and Isolation Society which also features Julie Hair, and Ian Wilson formerly in Star Spangles. [6]

Reunion

On January 16, 2016, Mark C., Jaffe and Hutchins reunited as Live Skull to perform and record several new songs at Martin Bisi's B.C. Studio, as part of the studio's semi-private, 35th anniversary "Recording of the Century" event. [7]

In November 2019, the band released their album Saturday Night Massacre, followed by Dangerous Visions in 2020. The band's current core consists of Mark C., Rich Hutchins, Kent Heine and Dave Hollinghurst. Thalia Zedek and Marnie Jaffe occasionally join them in studio and live shows.

Band members

Current members
Former members

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Live albums

Live videos

Compilation appearances

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars (band)</span> American rock band

Mars were an American, New York City-based no wave experimental noise rock band, formed in 1975 when China Burg and artist Nancy Arlen (drums) brought Mark Cunningham (bass) and vocalist Sumner Crane together to talk about music. They were joined briefly by guitarist Rudolph Grey. The band played one live gig under the name China before changing it to Mars. They played a mixture of angular compositions and freeform noise music jams, featuring surrealist lyrics and non-standard drumming. All the members were said to be completely untrained in music before forming the band.

Ludichrist is an American band formed in 1984 in Long Island New York. Their musical style broke from the conventions of New York hardcore by adding aspects of rock, heavy metal and jazz, such as musical interludes and extended guitar solos. Ludichrist is regarded as one of the crossover movement's most prominent groups, alongside D.R.I. Drummer Dave Miranda saw Ludichrist as "crossing into both, punk and metal without firmly belonging into either camp." He observed that "the band was readily influenced by bands around them such as Crumbsuckers and Agnostic Front."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beat Happening</span> American indie pop band

Beat Happening was an American indie pop band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-fi movements, noted for their use of primitive recording techniques, disregard for the technical aspects of musicianship, and songs with subject matters of a carefree or coy nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multitrack recording</span> Separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole

Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a cohesive whole. Multitracking became possible in the mid-1950s when the idea of simultaneously recording different audio channels to separate discrete "tracks" on the same reel-to-reel tape was developed. A "track" was simply a different channel recorded to its own discrete area on the tape whereby their relative sequence of recorded events would be preserved, and playback would be simultaneous or synchronized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebadoh</span> American indie rock band

Sebadoh is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for his songwriting when J. Mascis gradually took over creative control of Dinosaur Jr., in which Barlow plays bass guitar.

Frehley's Comet was an American rock band formed and led by ex-Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley. The group released two studio albums and one live EP before Frehley left the band to release his 1989 solo album, Trouble Walkin'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aztec Camera</span> Scottish musical group

Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/new wave band founded by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter, and only consistent member. Formed in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six studio albums: High Land, Hard Rain (1983), Knife (1984), Love (1987), Stray (1990), Dreamland (1993), and Frestonia (1995). The band garnered popular success for the songs "Oblivious", "Somewhere in My Heart", and "Good Morning Britain".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naked Raygun</span> American punk band

Naked Raygun is an American punk rock band that formed in Chicago in 1980. The band was active from 1980 to 1992, along with reunion shows in 1997, and since 2006.

Lubricated Goat are an Australian noise rock band which originally formed in 1986 by multi-instrumentalist Stu Spasm. They achieved brief notoriety in November 1988 for appearing nude on the ABC TV program Blah Blah Blah, wearing only their instruments and shoes. Mainly influenced by the Stooges and the Birthday Party, they are credited for playing a grimy, confrontational style of rock, which preceded grunge. They have issued five studio albums, Plays the Devil's Music (1987), Paddock of Love (1988), Psychedelicatessen (1990), Forces You Don't Understand (1994) and The Great Old Ones (2003).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Brokaw</span> American musician

Chris Brokaw is an American musician, best known for his work with the bands Come and Codeine.

Atavistic Records is an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois, known for its no wave and free jazz recordings.

Toxic Reasons were an American punk rock band, formed in 1979. The band released nine full-length studio albums between 1982 and 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obojeni Program</span>

Obojeni Program is a Serbian alternative rock band from Novi Sad. The band are pioneers of the Serbian alternative rock scene. The first letters of the band's first seven studio albums form an acronym of their home town. They have performed at every Exit festival since the first in 2000, with the exception of the virtual Exit held in September 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thinking Plague</span> American avant-rock group

Thinking Plague is an American avant-garde progressive rock group founded in 1982 by guitarist/composer Mike Johnson and bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake. Based in Denver, Colorado, the band has been active off and on since 1982, taking on a number of musicians over the years. They have made seven studio albums between 1984 and 2017, and released one live album recorded at NEARfest in 2000.

Rat at Rat R was a No Wave band formed in 1981 by guitarist Victor Poison-tete. The music of Rat at Rat R can best be described as guitar-oriented noise music or noise rock music.

Zag And The Coloured Beads are an English experimental rock band.

Marnie Jaffe (née Greenholz) is an American singer/bassist. She was an early member of New York City noise-rock band Live Skull, and performed on its albums Bringing Home the Bait (1985), Cloud One (1986), Don't Get Any on You (1987) and Dusted (1987), and EPs Live Skull (1984), Pusherman (1986) and Snuffer (1988). She left the group in 1988.

Love Pump was an Australian rock band popular in Perth in the 1980s. They were part of a renaissance of Western Australian performing acts that developed during this period, in the wake of the international punk rock and new wave movements – in isolation from the mainstream rock industry in Australia. This unique local musical culture has not been well documented or fully appreciated by histories of Australian popular music, tending to emphasise the culture of the 'Eastern States' – a cultural dichotomy that still exists in Australia today.

Y Pants were an American all-female no wave band from New York City active from 1979 to 1982. The trio, made up of photographer/musician Barbara Ess, visual artist Virginia Piersol, and filmmaker Gail Vachon, developed a unique sound via their acoustic toy instrumentation of toy piano, ukulele and a paper-headed Mickey Mouse drum kit, augmented by electric bass guitar, Casio keyboards and various low-tech effects.

Uzi was an American alternative rock band, formed in 1984 in Boston, Massachusetts and disbanded in 1987. The band featured Thalia Zedek, Danny Lee (drums), Randy Barnwell, Bob Young (guitar) and Phil Milstein. Never achieving commercial success during their short period of activity, the band gained a cult following, becoming a part of Boston's underground rock scene.

References

  1. Masters, Marc (2007) No Wave . London: Black Dog Publishing. ISBN   978-1-906155-02-5. p.191
  2. "TrouserPress.com :: Live Skull". Trouserpress.com. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  3. Masters, Marc (2007) No Wave . London: Black Dog Publishing. ISBN   978-1-906155-02-5. pp.192
  4. Masters, Marc (2007) No Wave . London: Black Dog Publishing. ISBN   978-1-906155-02-5. pp.191-194
  5. "Come". Thaliazedek.wordpress.com. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  6. 1 2 "RICH HUTCHINS". Bloodyrich.net. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  7. "18 January 2016 : New York Music Daily". Newyorkmusicdaily.wordpress.com. Retrieved 17 December 2018.