It's really worth reading through the lyrics just for how beautifully they depict something so utterly, unfathomably horrifying with that dreamlike detachment you get when they adrenaline has overtaken your fear and you just go numb. In particular, how Thomas describes bombs going off on distant city streets as "sprouting clumps of mushrooms in a world surreal." Haunting stuff, and perfectly complemented by that wild instrumentation, the loping Sabbath-meets-ska groove limping in and out of violent free jazz in circus rhythms and synthesised airplane roars. Along with the B-side, the eerie existential meditation "Heart of Darkness", I think this might be one of the best punk singles of the '70s. Also, for a tiny bit of further info on both the band name and the band themselves: Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi was written in the mid 1800s when Jarry was in college but he only felt daring enough to publish it years later because it was so unbelievably obscene. The titular Pere Ubu is a unhygienic, hateful lout who winds up the tyrant of a country under ridiculous circumstances; lots of deeply bizarre, absurd and disgusting shenanigans ensue, some so over-the-top and shocking as to inspire generations of similarly extreme artists, among them the Surrealists and, unsurprisingly, certain well-read early sort-of-punks. One of these was Dave Thomas, alias Crocus Behemoth, a large man who did super weird poetry slam-like art performances and became fast friends with a mega-talented guitarist named Peter Laughner. The two formed a band called Rocket from the Tombs, and wrote a whole bunch of songs together, but because Thomas was still not totally comfortable fronting a band, a more conventionally tuneful and attractive lead singer was brought in to split their duties. Eventually, tensions between the more straight-ahead rock'n'roller members of the band and the artsy guys came to a head, and Laughner and Thomas formed the far wackier and darker Pere Ubu while said singer and their second guitarist went off to form The Dead Boys, a really important early punk band-and in the process stealing one of Thomas' favourite songs of his, "Sonic Reducer", as their signature tune! The dickest move! Pere Ubu kind of got the last laugh, though, lasting far longer and being far more successful despite being way weirder, but unfortunately Laughner, who left early on to play with the likes of Robert Quine and even Lou Reed, wound up succumbing to heroin addiction at a really young age. His legacy, however, is very much secure. And Thomas continues to record and tour with different versions of Pere Ubu to this day, featuring assortments of members who've been in and out of the band since the '70s.
Wow, just stumbled upon your channel! Great stuff. You have a lot of some of my favorite bands and music on this channel. I have some catching up to do! Scrolled through all of the reactions to see what was here. Since Pere Ubu started in Cleveland, I have another Cleveland band you should check out that has some amazing music but is not well-known. It was My Dad Is Dead. Another band that you haven't done yet is a German band that started in the 60s and experimental. They had and American singer and then a Japanese singer. They were called Can. I can recommend songs from both bands if you are interested. Now, I have to watch more of these videos!
First, thanks for finding a link to the song, as I didn't provide one. Second, thank you for reacting to such an unusual song. For me, Pere Ubu was an acquired taste. They do have other, more "standard" songs, but this is one of their more iconic songs so I thought I'd lead with this. The name is pronounced "Pear Ooh Boo", and they were one of two bands which formed after breakup of Rocket From The Tombs - the other band which came about from their breakup was the Dead Boys. Great reaction with the background history and noting the avant-garde elements, and you REALLY nailed the Black Sabbath feel. I think it's the downward chord progression combined with the guitar lick. I doubt this will get a lot of views, so thanks again for taking the time! FINAL NOTE: The group's name is a reference to Ubu Roi, an avant-garde play by French writer Alfred Jarry.
Very interesting song Michael, i didnt get the black Sabbath feel myself,at first i was thinking lou reed but greg nailed it with david byrne talking heads vibe. Also got a little of the doors and maybe its the peppers in me but at about 6.30 mark it was like an alternative day in the life Beatles ending but thats maybe just me 🤣 All in all a very good choice which after a couple of listens gets better and better.
The first 2 Pere Ubu albums are a must: "The Modern Dance" still sounds kind of Rock/Free Jazz with analogue synth noise while "Dub Housing" really moves to a more abstract surreal ambient and in general the Ubu's urban atmospheres are still unrivalled nowadays. I suggest a reaction to this - I bet 100% you've never come across anything similar: ua-cam.com/video/vxAkHDDwZGo/v-deo.html then if that's too much "Real World" from The Modern Dance should get you in the right mood (then go back to Codex).
The earlier band that you mentioned was a Rock / Proto-Punk band, named "Rocket From The Tombs." Out of that band, came two new bands - one, was "Pere Ubu," and the other was "the Dead Boys." Pere Ubu took their name from a character in a play, by French writer, "Alfred Jarry." The character's name translates into English as "Papa Ubu" or "Father Ubu." The title of the play is "Ubu Roi," which translates into English as "Ubu The King" or "Ubu Rex." Pere Ubu's music has been called "Rock," "Punk Rock," "Post Punk," "Art Punk," "Experimental Rock," "New Wave, (which I disagree with)," and "Industrial." They have written, in my opinion, a lot of great songs, including "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" : "Heart of Darkness" "Final Solution" "Cloud 149," and many others, and great albums, such as "The Modern Dance" and "Dub Housing." They are still around, today, and recently put out a new record.
17:05 The Iggy Pop song you're searching for is "The Passenger", another very dark song (I think the narrator might be a serial killer?) with an absolutely indelible hook which I absolutely adore. And it has David Bowie on backing vocals!
Pere Ubu! I saw them in Chicago in the 90's. I like the World's in Collision album which is fairly conventional by their standards (enough to get them on Letterman, though apparently they had to raise money for the trip since neither the show nor their label would pay for it. Was the Iggy Pop reference The Passenger? I might have heard that a little in there.
I remember trying to get into this band back in the day, but it didn't stick. Now I know why, this just isn't for me...there's a reason why some things don't catch on. I know the "critics" liked them, but I don't give much credit to critics. Now if you want some good noise associated with Doolittle, stick with The Pixies.
to try to get into a band because of the positive critics comments is kind of forcing oneself. In my case it was exactly the opposite - the critic from a Italian music mag called Rockerilla was so venomously negative I thought "there must be some good stuff here to generate such a hatred". I bought Dub Housing without many clues - from the review I was expecting some kind of alternative Rock / Post Punk with some Noise, Free Jazz and Beefheart vibes - that's all (there was no internet at that time and no nearby record shops selling this sort of stuff nor facilities to listen before buy). My first reaction was to turn the volume down because I was afraid my parents would disapprove of me listening to such a mess...on the second listening I fell in love with "I Will Wait" (the side B's first song) and on subsequent listening other songs become more and more familiar - all songs in that album are little masterpieces...
It's really worth reading through the lyrics just for how beautifully they depict something so utterly, unfathomably horrifying with that dreamlike detachment you get when they adrenaline has overtaken your fear and you just go numb. In particular, how Thomas describes bombs going off on distant city streets as "sprouting clumps of mushrooms in a world surreal." Haunting stuff, and perfectly complemented by that wild instrumentation, the loping Sabbath-meets-ska groove limping in and out of violent free jazz in circus rhythms and synthesised airplane roars. Along with the B-side, the eerie existential meditation "Heart of Darkness", I think this might be one of the best punk singles of the '70s.
Also, for a tiny bit of further info on both the band name and the band themselves: Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi was written in the mid 1800s when Jarry was in college but he only felt daring enough to publish it years later because it was so unbelievably obscene. The titular Pere Ubu is a unhygienic, hateful lout who winds up the tyrant of a country under ridiculous circumstances; lots of deeply bizarre, absurd and disgusting shenanigans ensue, some so over-the-top and shocking as to inspire generations of similarly extreme artists, among them the Surrealists and, unsurprisingly, certain well-read early sort-of-punks. One of these was Dave Thomas, alias Crocus Behemoth, a large man who did super weird poetry slam-like art performances and became fast friends with a mega-talented guitarist named Peter Laughner. The two formed a band called Rocket from the Tombs, and wrote a whole bunch of songs together, but because Thomas was still not totally comfortable fronting a band, a more conventionally tuneful and attractive lead singer was brought in to split their duties. Eventually, tensions between the more straight-ahead rock'n'roller members of the band and the artsy guys came to a head, and Laughner and Thomas formed the far wackier and darker Pere Ubu while said singer and their second guitarist went off to form The Dead Boys, a really important early punk band-and in the process stealing one of Thomas' favourite songs of his, "Sonic Reducer", as their signature tune! The dickest move! Pere Ubu kind of got the last laugh, though, lasting far longer and being far more successful despite being way weirder, but unfortunately Laughner, who left early on to play with the likes of Robert Quine and even Lou Reed, wound up succumbing to heroin addiction at a really young age. His legacy, however, is very much secure. And Thomas continues to record and tour with different versions of Pere Ubu to this day, featuring assortments of members who've been in and out of the band since the '70s.
Wow, just stumbled upon your channel! Great stuff. You have a lot of some of my favorite bands and music on this channel. I have some catching up to do! Scrolled through all of the reactions to see what was here. Since Pere Ubu started in Cleveland, I have another Cleveland band you should check out that has some amazing music but is not well-known. It was My Dad Is Dead. Another band that you haven't done yet is a German band that started in the 60s and experimental. They had and American singer and then a Japanese singer. They were called Can. I can recommend songs from both bands if you are interested. Now, I have to watch more of these videos!
The band is still around, David Thomas is a poet
First, thanks for finding a link to the song, as I didn't provide one. Second, thank you for reacting to such an unusual song. For me, Pere Ubu was an acquired taste. They do have other, more "standard" songs, but this is one of their more iconic songs so I thought I'd lead with this. The name is pronounced "Pear Ooh Boo", and they were one of two bands which formed after breakup of Rocket From The Tombs - the other band which came about from their breakup was the Dead Boys. Great reaction with the background history and noting the avant-garde elements, and you REALLY nailed the Black Sabbath feel. I think it's the downward chord progression combined with the guitar lick. I doubt this will get a lot of views, so thanks again for taking the time! FINAL NOTE: The group's name is a reference to Ubu Roi, an avant-garde play by French writer Alfred Jarry.
Very interesting song Michael, i didnt get the black Sabbath feel myself,at first i was thinking lou reed but greg nailed it with david byrne talking heads vibe. Also got a little of the doors and maybe its the peppers in me but at about 6.30 mark it was like an alternative day in the life Beatles ending but thats maybe just me 🤣
All in all a very good choice which after a couple of listens gets better and better.
They were called rocket from the tombs
The first 2 Pere Ubu albums are a must: "The Modern Dance" still sounds kind of Rock/Free Jazz with analogue synth noise while "Dub Housing" really moves to a more abstract surreal ambient and in general the Ubu's urban atmospheres are still unrivalled nowadays.
I suggest a reaction to this - I bet 100% you've never come across anything similar: ua-cam.com/video/vxAkHDDwZGo/v-deo.html
then if that's too much "Real World" from The Modern Dance should get you in the right mood (then go back to Codex).
Proto-punk electric pioneers!!
Pere Ubu doesn't take any prisoners
The earlier band that you mentioned was a Rock / Proto-Punk band, named "Rocket From The Tombs." Out of that band, came two new bands - one, was "Pere Ubu," and the other was "the Dead Boys." Pere Ubu took their name from a character in a play, by French writer, "Alfred Jarry." The character's name translates into English as "Papa Ubu" or "Father Ubu." The title of the play is "Ubu Roi," which translates into English as "Ubu The King" or "Ubu Rex." Pere Ubu's music has been called "Rock," "Punk Rock," "Post Punk," "Art Punk," "Experimental Rock," "New Wave, (which I disagree with)," and "Industrial." They have written, in my opinion, a lot of great songs, including "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" : "Heart of Darkness" "Final Solution" "Cloud 149," and many others, and great albums, such as "The Modern Dance" and "Dub Housing." They are still around, today, and recently put out a new record.
17:05 The Iggy Pop song you're searching for is "The Passenger", another very dark song (I think the narrator might be a serial killer?) with an absolutely indelible hook which I absolutely adore. And it has David Bowie on backing vocals!
The lyrics of Iggy's The Passenger are based on passages from William Burroughs' novel "The Ticket That Exploded"
Pere Ubu! I saw them in Chicago in the 90's. I like the World's in Collision album which is fairly conventional by their standards (enough to get them on Letterman, though apparently they had to raise money for the trip since neither the show nor their label would pay for it. Was the Iggy Pop reference The Passenger? I might have heard that a little in there.
If you like this, I think you would LOVE 'Spitfire' by Public Service Broadcasting.
And you are correct, I love that song!
I remember trying to get into this band back in the day, but it didn't stick. Now I know why, this just isn't for me...there's a reason why some things don't catch on. I know the "critics" liked them, but I don't give much credit to critics. Now if you want some good noise associated with Doolittle, stick with The Pixies.
to try to get into a band because of the positive critics comments is kind of forcing oneself. In my case it was exactly the opposite - the critic from a Italian music mag called Rockerilla was so venomously negative I thought "there must be some good stuff here to generate such a hatred".
I bought Dub Housing without many clues - from the review I was expecting some kind of alternative Rock / Post Punk with some Noise, Free Jazz and Beefheart vibes - that's all (there was no internet at that time and no nearby record shops selling this sort of stuff nor facilities to listen before buy). My first reaction was to turn the volume down because I was afraid my parents would disapprove of me listening to such a mess...on the second listening I fell in love with "I Will Wait" (the side B's first song) and on subsequent listening other songs become more and more familiar - all songs in that album are little masterpieces...
Pere Ubu and The Pixies are both amazing.