Pere Ubu
Tim Wright – Bass/Gtr, Tom Herman – Bass/Gtr
Allen Ravenstein – Synth, R. Scott Krauss – Drums
Crocus Behemoth aka Dave Thomas and Peter Laughner formed Pere Ubu In Cleveland USA in September 1975. Named after a character in French absurdist’s Alfred Jarry’s plays, the band were formed from the ashes of Rocket From The Tombs. Ostensibly to just record a single on their own label Hearthan records, they played a gig and decided to become a band.
What followed are two classic singles styled appropriately as ‘avant’ garage. While David Thomas may have playfully called Pere Ubu ‘pop’ there was nothing commercial in their early sound. Instead suffused by a dark aesthetic early Pere Ubu of the first 2 singles and the Modern dance influenced bands like Joy Division, REM, Wire and later bands like Interpol.
30 Seconds Over Tokyo/ Heart Of Darkness (Hearthan 1975)
“It features jarred, fried analogue synthesisers that compliments … intense brooding backdrop of guitar, bass and drums. The song splutters and coughs in a hailstorm of synth noise and Thomas’s repeated muttering of the song title to bring this masterpiece to an abrupt, crashing end.” Superdope Issue #8
This record is 30 years old and when you think what music was about then you can appreciate how important this band were or could have been.
“I consider Pere Ubu to be a pop band, totally the same as Wings, or The Music Explosion or The Archies. Its just that we are doing more modern and therefore better pop music”
David Thomas, Search & Destroy 6, 1977
Final Solution/Cloud 149 (Hearthan 1976)
Another old Rocket For The Tombs number . A swaggering monster of a single that even now sounds superb and undated. We all love a teen frustration song and this ones a corker. Rolling bass like a slowed down a la C’Mon Everybody, edgy guitar, hissy analogue synth and a rocky punky feel with Thomas assured vocals on top. A good, if faithful, cover was done by Living Colour some years later and a suitably snotty one by The Pagans.
In their mix of classic ’60’s rock with wheezy synthesizers, harsh found sounds, fractured and angular song structures, and absurd humor, Pere Ubu was a pre-punk band with a post-punk sound.
The Secret History Of Rock, Roni Sarig
The Modern Dance
“Uh-oh, this is getting frustrating, trying to tell you how good this is– black and white is an inadequate substitute for the impact heard… This is a brilliant debut. Granted it lacks the superficial accessibility of lesser works, but this time around the aroma lingers. This is built to last! Ubu’s world is rarely comfortable, full of the space beyond the electric light and what it does to people, but always direct and unwavering. And courageous.” Jon Savage, Sounds, 2/11/78
“It’s a devastating debut…this album has struck me with a vengeance. Because it delivers such a powerful, complex and open-ended punch, it’s almost impossible at such an early stage to explain why or how in full detail.” Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 3/18/78
Hope that gives you a taste of a unique band and you go explore some more
TalkPunk
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