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Pere Ubu are an experimental rock music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. They have broken up and reformed several times, and despite many long-term band members, singer David Thomas is the only constant. Pere Ubu's official website reports that the group is named "after the protagonist of Ubu Roi, a play by Frenchman 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 forward-thinking musicians and are among the most critically acclaimed American musical groups.
Critical opinions of Pere Ubu include "the world's only expressionist Rock `n` Roll band." and "Pere Ubu will be looked back on as the most important group to have come out of America in the last decade and a half. Either that or they will be entirely forgotten."
Pere Ubu have consistently conducted their affairs as they see fit, regardless of convention: They refuse to discuss or explain their sometimes odd music, forgoing the usual banter of newspaper and press interviews. Pere Ubu have compiled a list of protocols for touring, live performances and the like, including such statements as, "Lighting should be theatrical rather than rockist. We are interested in atmosphere, mood, drama, energy, subtlety, imagination-- not rock cliche."
(Tired of being asked to define their music, Pere Ubu coined the term Avant Garage to reflect interest in both experimental avant garde music (especially Musique concrète) and raw, direct blues influenced garage rock. Thomas has stated "Avant Garage" is "a joke invented to have something to give journalists when they yelp for a neat sound bite or pigeonhole." )
Rocket From The Tombs was a Cleveland-based group that eventually fragmented: some members formed The 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.
Pere Ubu's debut single was "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (inspired by and named after the 1942 "Doolittle Raid") backed with "Heart of Darkness"; followed by "Final Solution" in 1976.
From these first recordings, Pere Ubu sounded like little else. Their propulsive rhythmic pulse was similar to some so-called Krautrock, but Thomas' yelping, howling, desperate singing was truly unique, despite the inevitable Captain Beefheart comparisons. Pere Ubu imagined 1950s and 1960s garage rock and surf music archetypes as seen in a distorting funhouse mirror, emphasising the music's angst, loneliness and lyrical paranoia. Sometimes sounding like a demented nursery rhyme sing-along, this already bizarre blend was overlaid with Ravenstein's ominous EML synthesizer effects and tape looped sounds of mundane conversation, ringing telephones or steam whistles.
Laughner left the group after their first two singles, and died soon afterwards after a struggle with drug addiction. Tony Maimone signed on as bassist after Tim Wright left to join DNA.
After "Street Waves", their third single, Pere Ubu signed to Blank Records, an imprint of Mercury Records created just for the band.
Their debut album, The Modern Dance (1978), sold poorly, but has proven influential. Musicians of all types, including prog rock, punk rock, post punk and New Wave were influenced by the dark, abstract record.
Dub Housing and New Picnic Time followed, with much the same reaction. The group briefly disbanded in 1979, but reformed soon afterwards with Herman replaced by Mayo Thompson (of The Art of Walking (1980) showed a movement towards a pop audience. For the next original album, Song of the Bailing Man (1982), Krauss was replaced by Anton Fier.
The group disbanded again soon afterwards; Krauss and Maimone formed Home & Garden, while Thomas worked on a solo career, occasionally working with former members of Pere Ubu.
The band was reformed again in 1988, with Jim Jones and Chris Cutler joining for the release of The Tenement Year (1988), a far more pop-oriented album than ever before. The following year, "Waiting for Mary" (off Cloudland) appeared on MTV briefly. Eric Drew Feldman joined in time for Worlds in Collision but left afterwards, joining Frank Black.
Story of my Life (1993) was released on Imago; Maimone left once again, and Michele Temple and Garo Yellin joined for the 1995 album, Raygun Suitcase. Robert Wheeler has played synthesizer and theremin with Pere Ubu since 1994.
After a 1996 box set, Thomas reunited with Tom Herman to record Pennsylvania (1998) and St. Arkansas in 2002.
Pere Ubu had an interesting way of combining musicians: from the start the Ubu methodology was almost, just about, nearly, definable:
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