Pere Ubu

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Biography

Cleveland, United States (1975 – present)

Pere Ubu is an music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. Despite many long-term band members, singer David Thomas is the only constant. The group is named after Père Ubu (“father Ubu”), the protagonist of Ubu Roi (“Ubu, the King”), a play by French writer Alfred Jarry.

While Pere Ubu have never been widely popular—usually categorized as “underground rock”—they have a devoted following, have been hugely influential on several generations of musicians and are a critically acclaimed American musical group. To define their music, Pere Ubu coined the term Avant Garage to reflect interest in both avant-garde music (especially Musique concrète) and raw, direct .

When Cleveland-based band Rocket From The Tombs fragmented some members formed Dead Boys, while David Thomas and guitarist Peter Laughner joined with guitarist Tom Herman, bass guitarist Tim Wright, drummer Scott Krauss and synthesist Allen Ravenstine to form Pere Ubu in 1975. At the time the band formed, Herman, Krauss, and Ravenstine lived in a house owned by Ravenstine.

Pere Ubu’s first single (their first five releases were singles on their own “Hearthan” label) was “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” (inspired by the “Doolittle Raid” and named after a film depicting the raid), backed with “Heart Of Darkness”; followed by “Final Solution” in 1976. One review noted that “30 Seconds…” “was clearly the work of a garage band, yet its arty dissonance and weird experimentalism were startlingly unique.”
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  • FCA19795

    I did not know who this band was until a week ago. Another random listening choice from the library (the album was Dub Housing). I thought it was going to be about dub, and at first I thought it was similar, albeit a strange form. I was surprised this album came out in 1978!? These guys were before there time IMO.

    24 May 12:45am Reply

  • alnmsis1985

    Didnt even know they had a new album til about 15 minutes ago. Sounds like its gonna be a blinder as well!!

    3 May 5:17pm Reply

  • AliasMcBride

    Encountered them for the first time ever at ATP's I'll Be Your Mirror in Melbourne last weekend. Absolutely AWE INSPIRING live performance, I danced my arse off and was left dazzled. Looking forward to getting well acquainted with their discography.

    21 Feb 8:09am Reply

  • android9791

    check this out. it's art. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aPqZsvP9cA

    8 Feb 12:43am Reply

  • Lambsisters

    @TrixRabbi Why I Hate Women is my personal favourite and well worth a listen

    5 Feb 10:19pm Reply

  • PrinceColdheart

    @ TrixRabbi: Modern Dance and Dub Housing for the start, St. Arcansas when you're in it... Cloudland is pretty pop-oriented album. Personally I like RayGun Suitcase, although you may hear different opinions :)

    3 Feb 9:25pm Reply

  • TrixRabbi

    Oh man. I never heard of these guys until I got a copy of Lady From Shanghai and it's amazing. What other albums should I check out?

    3 Feb 6:11pm Reply

  • fabiocandelori

    would you come out to play Mandy? That's Avant-Garde.

    25 Jan 9:18pm Reply

  • sick_boy88

    Yes, their new album is really good.

    20 Jan 5:14pm Reply

  • Uthkara

    New album is super good. Can't believe it's flying so low on the radar right now.

    18 Jan 2:12pm Reply

  • sunheadbowed

    The advent of the excellent new album is a good excuse to re-listen to every Pere Ubu album!

    15 Jan 10:50pm Reply

  • j-yeags

    the modern dance=pure gold.

    12 Jan 1:23am Reply

  • Reginatz

    ... best life concerts i´ve ever been

    4 Jan 12:36pm Reply

  • iconan

    The Modern Dance (1978) - Difficult, absurd and insignificant categorize their sound, avant-garde, jazz, rock, folk, all of this and the other, a wonderful colorful soup musical seasoned in a rational manner by a melody amazing, unique and enviable. A vision too strong and "maybe" too advanced for its time. A disc that is still remarkable for its strength, still relevant and influential. -.-.-.-. om hari om ..... ॐะ

    2 Jan 7:48pm Reply

  • da1212914

    http://candlecade.bandcamp.com/

    26 Nov 2012 Reply

  • sophteonal

    New Pere Ubu song Free White, from Lady From Shanghai: http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2012/11/02/163648978/song-premiere-pere-ubu-free-white

    7 Nov 2012 Reply

  • da1212914

    http://karensmells.bandcamp.com/

    1 Nov 2012 Reply

  • latenightbus

    Pere Ubu have got some brilliant similar artists up there. I think the Butthole Surfers might have been listening as well.

    7 Oct 2012 Reply

  • sophteonal

    @tjd9: you're riding street waves.

    5 Oct 2012 Reply

  • megajosh2

    You know what, that's a great idea. Antagonize the traffic with your fucked up music.

    2 Sep 2012 Reply
    • All 315 shouts

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