Live Skull played an integral role in the hard and uncompromising downtown New York noise music scene of the 1980’s. After a series of intense and chaotic first shows they became a favorite of fans and writers like NY Times’ Robert Palmer for their moody, transcendent two-guitar sound. They went on to play and tour with the likes of Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Swans, Jane’s addiction, Butthole Surfers and Psychic TV while crisscrossing the US and EU multiple times.

The original eight ground-breaking releases channeled explosive post-punk angst into infectious and tricked-out song structures, in the end featuring the super-charged vocals of a young Thalia Zedek. Since reforming in 2019 -in response to the scary political landscape- they have released three LPs on Bronson Recordings, 2019’s Saturday Night Massacre, rocking Details of the Madness, 2020’s Dangerous Visions featuring In a Perfect World and 2023’s Party Zero with timely classics Mad Kingship and Fling Blind!

The new lineup includes Mark C on guitar, vocals and synths, dAve Hollinghurst on guitar and vocals, Richard Hutchins on drums and saw blades, and introduces Colyn Hunt on bass. Her heavy and soulful bass lines harken back to the early days of Live Skull, and -accentuated by Rich’s tightly syncopated beats- provide a firm grounding for the psychedelic, dual guitar assault of Mark and dAve.

True to form, Live Skull returned to live jamming for roughing out the nine scorching tracks on their new LP, What Could Go Wrong? So far, live audiences can’t seem to get enough of the new tunes. As post-punk connoisseur, Gerard Cosloy once commented wryly: “BAND’s days as a well-kept secret are over. Either you jump on the bandwagon or we run you over with it.”

The Owners

DC punk scene veterans in a female fronted, melodic punk/power pop group. featuring members of Gray Matter, Ex Hex, The Shirks, Iron Cross, and The Problematics (and others). Formed during the pandemic from a group of owners and long-time bartenders of Washington, DC’s Black Cat, The Owners are Dante and Catherine Ferrando, Laura Harris, and Alec Budd.

The Owners have an album and a new 6 song 12-inch EP, both split releases on Dischord Records and Black Cat’s own Red Room Records. Over the last 6 years they’ve played local and east coast shows with bands like Stiff Little Fingers, The Avengers, Kid Congo, Ted Leo, and Velocity Girl.

Live Skull / The Owners

Live Skull / The Owners