NYC no-wave veterans Live Skull is set to return with new album Party Zero (Bronson Recordings) on May 26th, 2023. Following on album opener ‘Magic Consciousness‘, a modern post-punk protest tune of uncanny subtlety and power, today they share new track ‘Neutralize The Outliers’. Both urgent and catchy, it’s an addictive anthem of otherness perfectly balanced with incredible guitar work and riffs. Recorded at legendary Deepsea in Hoboken NJ by Mark C, this is timely music, essential, impassioned, angry, and beautiful. It’s the sound of Live Skull in the 21st Century, a desperate time that needs heroes like these. They are back from the past and still holding the post-punk scepter.

Live Skull’s Dave Hollinghurst explains: “We watched the chaos unfold live on the computer screen, freaking out, confusion and doubt on our faces. I realized that not only are we the hunted, but we are the hunters – and what are we going to do about it? Strike back with our own brand of chaos and noise – at least we go down in a sonic blaze of glory”.

Insurrections. Global pandemics. The return of fascism. Climate crises. These are some serious times. But if you’ve got angst in your pants and you need to dance, or scream, or play guitar too loud, too close to your amplifier, turn your ear to what Live Skull are doing. The New York noisers, who went on indefinite hiatus just before their kind of smart, gnarly, inventive din became lucrative, rose again in 2016. The band’s new album Party Zero, a thrilling work redefining what Live Skull means and what they stand for: no longer a group with a past, but one with a future. 

‘Party Zero’ marks the arrival of guitarist Dave Hollinghurst, an electrifying presence pushing the band in a fresh, new direction. It’s a fiercely political album, in keeping with this politically fierce age. “Desperation inspires us to make art and music,” he says. “There’s a lot of birth and rebirth, looking for pathways of resistance and promoting the good and trying to fight against evil. I once said we had to start Live Skull because Reagan became president. And we had to restart Live Skull because Trump became president.”

‘Party Zero’ is big in sound, brash in dynamics. But the sophistication that was always the group’s calling card remains an essential element, dealing in the kind of pulverizing pell-mell that characterized the 80s New York sound, but also radiant with melody, the fusion of noise and unexpected tunefulness delivering a heady, psychedelic effect.

“We’ve been pushed to the edge – how do we claw our way back?” asks Mark. “That’s been a common theme in Live Skull since the beginning, and so it is now. We’re trying to provoke thought.”