{"product_id":"skull-practitioners-negative-stars","title":"Skull Practitioners - Negative Stars","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLimited edition on color vinyl. First come, first served. No guarantees. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eProving once again that “power trio” isn’t just a descriptive handle from the distant past, but a louder-than-God 21st Century reality, New York's \u003cstrong\u003eSkull Practitioners\u003c\/strong\u003e release their first full-length album, \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNegative Stars,\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e for \u003cstrong\u003eIn the Red Records \u003c\/strong\u003eon \u003cstrong\u003eJanuary 20th\u003c\/strong\u003e. The album is the second release for Los Angeles-based In the Red by the trio — guitarist \u003cstrong\u003eJason Victor,\u003c\/strong\u003e bassist \u003cstrong\u003eKenneth Levine\u003c\/strong\u003e, and drummer \u003cstrong\u003eAlex Baker\u003c\/strong\u003e, following the band’s acclaimed EP, \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDeath Buy\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, issued in 2019.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePreviously, Victor had established himself as the dazzling co-lead guitarist for \u003cstrong\u003eSteve Wynn and the Miracle Three\u003c\/strong\u003e -\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003ewhen Wynn revived his ‘80s L.A. Paisley Underground consortium \u003cstrong\u003eThe Dream Syndicate\u003c\/strong\u003e in 2017, Victor took the guitar chair previously occupied by \u003cstrong\u003eKarl Precoda\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003ePaul\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eCutler\u003c\/strong\u003e.  Levine was playing in \u003cstrong\u003eDBCR\u003c\/strong\u003e, a three-piece unit. “\u003cem\u003eWe wanted to go to a five-piece, and needed a drummer and another guitar player,”\u003c\/em\u003e he says. “\u003cem\u003eWe put an ad out on Craigslist and met Jason \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eand Alex that way. Alex was just two weeks into living in New York. We played together for a while, and then it just sort of dissolved. Jason, Alex, and I actually had more of a shared, common musical perspective, and the three of us decided, ‘Let’s stick together with just us three.’”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eSkull Practitioners recorded a limited cassette-only debut, \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003est1\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, which they self-released in 2014. The four-song collection, on which Baker was the lone band member to take a vocal, marked the start of a long hunt for the right voice. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e“We kept looking for a new singer, and that person never came,\u003c\/em\u003e” says Victor. \u003cem\u003e“None of us wanted to sing at all. After a while, we had been together as a three-piece for so long that we had our thing, and it \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003ebecame difficult for someone to fit into it. So we pulled a Genesis! The best thing about it is that now all three of us will sing, and that takes the pressure off just one of us.” \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLevine adds, \u003cem\u003e“Whoever writes, sings. It’s their expression, so they should say what they have to say.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003cem\u003eNegative Stars\u003c\/em\u003e, Levine performs \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Dedication”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“What Now,”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e and Victor sings \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Exit Wounds,” “Leap,” “Intruder,\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e” and “\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVentilation.”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e The album’s expansive instrumental tracks are \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Fire Drill”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e and Skull Practitioners’ longtime club highlight \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Nelson D,”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e which first appeared on \u003cem\u003est1\u003c\/em\u003e in a live version. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eYou can hear a multitude of influences coming off each other in Skull Practitioners’ music, ranging from the \u003cstrong\u003eGun Club\u003c\/strong\u003e to \u003cstrong\u003eSonic Youth\u003c\/strong\u003e to J\u003cstrong\u003eoy Division, Black Flag\u003c\/strong\u003e, and beyond. Each player brings something uniquely his own to the mix.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Black Flag was huge for me,” \u003c\/em\u003esays Victor. \u003cem\u003e“There is that element of improv, and of aggression, that I was attracted to in that band. With our band, there’s definitely an aggressive angle there, and absolutely an improvisational one. We’re all willing to give everyone the space for contributing ideas. This band really does function as a democracy, which is nice.” \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLevine adds, \u003cem\u003e“All of us were into different things, and there’s some kind of overlap and we kind of influence each other, and there’s stuff that we turn each other on to.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eEverything on \u003cem\u003eNegative Stars\u003c\/em\u003e coheres so seamlessly, but like with so many others, its recording was hampered, and protracted, by the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“The main album session was a few years ago,” Baker says. “That was when we went into the studio for a couple of days with our friend, engineer Ted Young, and we tracked the bulk of the album there. We recorded the instrumental parts first, then started vocal tracking in January of 2021. It took us so long to decide that all the instruments were done at that point. The vocals were actually done at our practice space. We just set up the mics and did that ourselves.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLevine adds, \u003cem\u003e“The record was in mid-flight, and then the pandemic hit, so we were just sitting around for six months or a year, and we said, ‘Well, we may never finish this.’ So we wound up literally sitting in a room with masks on during most of the vocal tracking. If we’d waited to go into a real studio, it would have come out even later. Alex did all the engineering on that, and we’re very appreciative of all his engineering prowess.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith their album finally complete and the pandemic lifting, Skull Practitioners have begun to take to the stage more regularly: they have opened shows for \u003cstrong\u003eLydia Lunch, Hammered Hulls, Live Skull\u003c\/strong\u003e, and In the Red label mates the \u003cstrong\u003eWolfmanhattan Project (Kid Congo Powers, Mick Collins, and Bob Bert)\u003c\/strong\u003e. They plan to get on the road in the near future. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eSays Levine, \u003cem\u003e“I think the band is represented at its best in a live setting. That’s where we’re in our element. Playing live, we’re out for blood.” \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eVictor adds, “\u003cem\u003eWith the live thing, we just want to destroy, in the nicest, most friendly way — we’re nice people. Someone said about us, ‘These guys look like a bunch of accountants.’ People don’t really know what to expect before they hear us. I think they’re all a little surprised, maybe, and we like having that element of surprise — ‘We’re gonna blow your minds a little.’”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"In the Red Records","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":67836879208618,"sku":null,"price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":67836879241386,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0766\/6650\/3338\/files\/NegativeStars-FrontCoverfinal01.jpg?v=1793915409","url":"https:\/\/allhaven.shop\/products\/skull-practitioners-negative-stars","provider":"Caverton Goods","version":"1.0","type":"link"}