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"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
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
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Dave Thomas - Vocals |
Peter Laughner - Guitar |
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Tim Wright - Bass/Gtr |
Tom Herman - Bass/Gtr |
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Allen Ravenstein - Synth |
R. Scott Krauss - Drums |
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Dave Thomas
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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 today bands like Interpol.
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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.
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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, 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.
Click to hear clip of 'Final
Solution' |
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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 |
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David Thomas
& Pere Ubu are still recording to this day so its well worth to the official
website here.
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