Enter the Caustic Grief of Latisha’s Skull Drawing

Image: Jane Pain

Latisha’s Skull Drawing play a confrontational and odious brand of loud rock and roll that draws from noise, punk, and hardcore.

Hailing from Philadelphia and Providence, Rhode Island and made up of current and former members of Salvation, Cult Ritual, Cottaging, Diet Cokeheads, and Ukiah Drag, the band play music that’s staked to agitation and emotional malaise. You could say that it's pissed off and angry music, but any shitty punk band claims to be pissed and angry. This is more caustic grief.

A demo cassette released on Cult Maternal was an early indicator of what to expect from the four-piece and their loathsome and acerbic punk.

A planned October tour of the US and Canada was cancelled due to an uninvited virus, but a live tape released for the tour is available, and there are talks for a debut album on Iron Lung. In the meantime, have a listen to some tracks from the demo and read our interview with the band below.

NOISEY: One of the first descriptions of the band said, “It's definitely the closest to Cult Ritual any of us has gotten in a minute. No interest for hardcore feigned this time!” So you were faking it before?
Tommy Conte: That's my terrible sense of humour. I meant that while Cult Ritual was a band, I personally had a certain apathetic take on the present state of "hardcore." Though we played with several good bands, most hardcore was insipid dog shit. The players were boring, insecure white boys. I butted heads with many of them. Further, we listened (and gained inspiration from) anything but hardcore. I think we took more cues from Miles Davis' A Tribute for Jack Johnson than Poison Idea’s Pick Your King.

These days I've personally been more compelled by punk in its aesthetic, egalitarian form. Things are more progressive, less dominated by the homogenized brutes of yesteryear. Maybe it's just me? Maybe it's because we don't live in the south anymore. I am pleasantly thankful of the scene surrounding me. Our peers are more open-minded. Keep in mind, Cult Ritual was definitely a band that was too weird for punks and too straightforward for the noise heads, so we had a difficult time sinking our teeth into any sort of homogenized scene.

Who or what is the “Nightmare Man”?
Matt Adis: The Nightmare Man represents a dose of memory. Ingrained by body and mind; the sweat of an inseparable nightmare.

The initials of Latisha’s Skull Drawing are LSD. Is this purely coincidence?
Brian Hennessey: It was a conscious choice. The band was named after a piece of art, but we liked the resonance in the initials.

Conte: I'd be lying if I said that our band name didn't directly stem from some sort of juvenile excitement. Getting into international hardcore at 14 will definitely turn you onto some weird shit. A lot of it is amateurish, bizarre, slightly annoying. It's not a coincidence that we have the same acronym as the almighty LSD from Osaka, Japan. I used to skate to those EPs in high school…Take it as a rip off or an homage, I don't really care.

A couple friends back home in Tampa started a band called Latisha’s Skull Paintings that lasted about two practices. Cameron from Dads was a substitute art teacher at the time and got to know a high school student who painted really intense memento mori/vanitas style. He felt inspired enough to name our band after Latisha and her art. Fast forward two or three years, and Brian and I started LSD as a recording project soon after we moved to Boston. In a stoned and blissful moment, we figured we’d change paintings to drawing and put a maraschino cherry on top (i.e. a drug reference), thusly naming our band. It's a bit redundant to name two bands the same thing, but I thought it fit.

Image: Joe Mauro

Matt, your performances in Salvation were intense, often involving blood and injury to the point where the attention was drawn to the aggression and perceived violence rather than the music. Have things toned down?
Adis: Salvation was a turbulent time and place in life. Past is past. Injury isn't something I would strive for, but a repercussion for being reckless. In other words, I don't think about it.

“Threshold of Atrocity” is a monster song. How does it go live?
Adis: Relatable for those who have to face the horrors of SEPTA transport on a daily basis, or stepping foot outside.
Hennessy: Quickly! It's one of our longer tunes and I'm always surprised how short it feels when we play it out.
Conte: I break a lot of drum sticks.

The 'WMass Hole' cassette is available from Cult Maternal.