Pere Ubu
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Cleveland, United States (1975 – present)
Pere Ubu is an experimental rock 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 avant-garde 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 garage rock.
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.”
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 avant-garde 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 garage rock.
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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Featured Tracks
| Wasted | 2:38 |
| Honey Moon | 2:56 |
| FULL TRACK Banquet Of The Butchers | 2:53 |
Top Albums
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The Modern Dance
Pere Ubu
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Dub Housing
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Terminal Tower
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New Picnic Time
Pere Ubu Buy- Download Album
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Shoutbox
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home6alien wrote:
Vocal spoils all the potential of their pseudo-experimental approach to punk music.
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PedroLemgruber wrote:
best Similar Artists section ever
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pieroscaruffi wrote:
:D
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grayjay103 wrote:
The first last.fm recommendation I ever checked out. I love this band now. Thank you community :D
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pathtoyirah wrote:
"The Fabulous Sequel" and "Make Hay" from New Picnic Time are definitely up there for favourite Pere Ubu songs..
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shootmeadeer wrote:
Yeah, New Picnic Time is great. I have a soft spot for those Mayo Thompson Ubu albums as well.
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cdax2307 wrote:
I fucking love Pere Ubu as well, MikkTrett.
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Illumynatuz wrote:
New Picnic Time is underrated... that opening track is just pure gold
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MikkTrett wrote:
I fucking love Pere Ubu.
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iconan wrote:
The Modern Dance reaffirmed that rock and roll could be a vehicle for authentic artistic statements . -.-.-.-.-. om hari om .....
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selrigu wrote:
im so glad i found you
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JoshCIVM wrote:
Merdre!!!
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AMDA wrote:
Pere Ubu is better than sex
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sophteonal wrote:
What a world to be drowned in...
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solhess wrote:
Pere Ubu @ CultureWok: http://www.culturewok.com/lewokentravaux/music/object/41126
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emdootvala wrote:
Pere Ebu
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Zor4n wrote:
Hum0r me, over and over again.
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iamholgerczukay wrote:
It's just a super abstract/quick gestural drawing of a bearded man, I should scan it at some point for digital reference. But as a quick gesture drawing, it's quite good.
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sophteonal wrote:
@iamholgerczukay: What was the drawing of? Now I'm curious, hah.
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MAMMAAIUTO wrote:
president_block can be the dickhead. David were nice to me, maybe you didn't have all the goods to make him happy lulz /swedish pussy
Videos
News
April and May Releases
9 May 2011 | from www.hearpen.com
The April release from hearpen.com was the long-lost David
Thomas And His Legs live album from 1982 with Chris Cutler and
Lindsay Cooper, "Winter Comes Home." The May release is "A Warning
…
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7 Mar 2011 | from www.hearpen.com -
9 Feb 2011 | from www.hearpen.com -
2 Dec 2010 | from www.hearpen.com
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Recent Activity
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xannini added Pere Ubu to xannini’s library. 42 minutes ago
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toreriku tagged Pere Ubu with experimental rock and post-punk. 2 hours ago
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syberiana, meatbag74, JazJazzJazzy and 26 other people added Pere Ubu to their libraries. 6 hours ago
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c_ukladanka tagged Pere Ubu with art pop, new wave, art punk and 2 other tags. Wednesday morning
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Industrie8 added Pere Ubu to Industrie8’s library. Wednesday morning
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c_ukladanka tagged Pere Ubu with art punk, experimental rock and post-punk. Tuesday evening
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sprithund, jennymellor, spongers and 28 other people added Pere Ubu to their libraries. Tuesday afternoon
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DanilaDanola tagged Pere Ubu with experimental and post-punk. last month
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mcnuggetjesus, dacanesta, CharlieSavannah and 5 other people added Pere Ubu to their libraries. last month
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sxzx tagged Pere Ubu with alternative rock, rock, post punk and 4 other tags. last month
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