Comments for Life Without Art, unreleased demos

The coolest thing going in Carbondale, Illinois circa 1984/85. The band consisted of Mike Sharp winding creative and energetic guitar parts on top of the hyper-kinetic rhythm section of Erich Ackerman on bass and Scott McFarland on drums. Their originals tended to fall into two categories : those with a jangly American sound jacked up with some muscle (influences: R.E.M., Let's Active, The Jam) on which Mike tended to use his Rickenbacker, and those with a darker, colder sound (influences: Echo and the Bunneymen, The Psychedelic Furs). The band's live presentation was unpretentious and energetic; they rocked hard generally three songs at a time. Various garage classics would be taken at new levels of speed during the course of a night. Their own material was well-constructed, with Erich Ackermann along with the other two providing lyrics reflective of their time and place. And the band meshed very well - there was a lot of creativity in this band. Unfortunately they never got their break - and had to stop working together when Erich accepted a Fulbright scholorship and left for Yugoslavia (Croatia). Plans for the future of the band never did materialize, and their material now sounds dated. But let me tell you something - they really had something special between them. Perhaps someday Carbondale will be so lucky as to see a reunion concert.

Let's not forget the origins. Life without Art would not have been possible without Art (Olsen) whose manic Les Paul guitar provided the germ around which LWA sprouted. To quote Grendel: "Things change - alternative exclude"; to quote inimical Biff: "success is a function of good timing and good lighting. Unfortunately, LWA had neither. Though I believe a good time was had by all

The effect of blasting Klipsh LaScalas into a 35,000 square foot warehouse to obtain reverb effect can''t be duplicated by digtal means. I''ve tried... really. The 2 track masters are hermetically sealed at the United States Library of Congress. catalog SRU95522 & SRU95523. WEA will never get their profit seeking hands on them!