Live Skull created abrasive no wave music not unlike their 1980s contemporaries Sonic Youth, Swans, Rat At Rat R, The Chameleons, Mars, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and Band Of Susans. Their music featured angular guitar parts interspersed with bleak, quieter passages, for a haunting overall effect. The lyrical subject matter was usually as pessimistic and harsh as the music itself. Live Skull never achieved mainstream recognition, but retain underground notoriety and share a family tree with other relatively noteworthy groups.

Live Skull formed in New York City in 1983 by the guitar/bandleader tandem of Mark C. and Tom Paine. They were soon joined by drummer James Lo and Marnie Greenholz (Paine's then-girlfriend), on bass guitar. In 1984, a self-titled debut 12" EP saw release on the tiny Massive label. They soon signed with indie label Homestead Records, which released their 1985 debut full-length Bringing Home The Bait. On this LP, vocal duties were shared by Greenholz, Paine...