Pere Ubu
(Tim/Kerr Records)
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Ubu regrouped in ’87 with their old soundman Jim Jones on guitar and extraneous drumming by Chris Cutler. After witnessing one of these dull-ass reunion shows and hearing their equally naff LP Cloudland, I wrote the band off. Their subsequent albums have gone all but unnoticed. But sentimentality is an addictive fruit, so my thoughts have turned to Ubu once again as they pass the two-decade post. Those who choose to celebrate Ubu’s anniversary are presented with quite a mixed set of commemorative items.
The most obvious conceptual parallel is to the later versions of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band. While some misguided purists argued that it wasn’t the Magic Band without certain key members, if you closed your eyes and just went with the flow the latter-day Magic Band produced a vibe that was close enough to the original that it scratched several particular itches.
The third single, “Street Waves” b/w “My Dark Ages,” is the first to feature Ubu’s stable early lineup (Thomas, Herman, Krauss, Ravenstine, Maimone), and it’s as tightly ferocious as a blood-suckled wolverine. Thomas’s words are as impenetrably garbled and open to interpretation as anything mumbled by Mick Jagger or the Residents, and the instrumental mix is deadly. Moving forward, standing still, and sliding backward all at once, this music is as magnificent as it was the day it was recorded.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Marty Perez.
