Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
Four stars
“Ma body may be broken,” drawls Pere Ubu's vocalist and de facto director David Thomas to explain why he won't be getting up from his chair so the people at the back of the room can see him, “but ma miiiiiind is more dangerous than ever.”
It may sound like a line from a Tennessee Williams play, but having already thrown his walking stick to the ground en route to an explanation of Random-access memory, Thomas' seated presence as he slugs a bottle of red wine inbetween reading lyrics from a music stand is clearly a bodily necessity. Mercurial belligerence may have always been Thomas' thing, but his uncompromising stance is also a knowing piece of self-reflection as the current Ubu line up play two sets culled largely from the band's recent Carnival of Souls album.
With no mention of Ubu's recent appearance on the soundtrack of the latest series of American Horror Story, the first half hour is a loose-fit alliance of clarinet-led B movie electronics that rebuilds 1980s single Waiting For Mary with theremins and a monologue about how Thomas is in league with a Martian invasion. It's a piece of comically retro-futurist hokum before Thomas throws the mother of all strops in the second half. Painfully in need of the bathroom, a smoke and some serious TLC, he conducts, blows a horn and yowls with 'ornery intent.
Things get edgier as Thomas grimaces and bears it throughout the set's remainder. Relieved at last, he returns for a soporific version of the new album's first single, Irene. After such a thrillingly tense display of parallel universe sci-fi pop, to see him perk up is a relief to all.
The Herald, November 20th 2014
ends
Four stars
“Ma body may be broken,” drawls Pere Ubu's vocalist and de facto director David Thomas to explain why he won't be getting up from his chair so the people at the back of the room can see him, “but ma miiiiiind is more dangerous than ever.”
It may sound like a line from a Tennessee Williams play, but having already thrown his walking stick to the ground en route to an explanation of Random-access memory, Thomas' seated presence as he slugs a bottle of red wine inbetween reading lyrics from a music stand is clearly a bodily necessity. Mercurial belligerence may have always been Thomas' thing, but his uncompromising stance is also a knowing piece of self-reflection as the current Ubu line up play two sets culled largely from the band's recent Carnival of Souls album.
With no mention of Ubu's recent appearance on the soundtrack of the latest series of American Horror Story, the first half hour is a loose-fit alliance of clarinet-led B movie electronics that rebuilds 1980s single Waiting For Mary with theremins and a monologue about how Thomas is in league with a Martian invasion. It's a piece of comically retro-futurist hokum before Thomas throws the mother of all strops in the second half. Painfully in need of the bathroom, a smoke and some serious TLC, he conducts, blows a horn and yowls with 'ornery intent.
Things get edgier as Thomas grimaces and bears it throughout the set's remainder. Relieved at last, he returns for a soporific version of the new album's first single, Irene. After such a thrillingly tense display of parallel universe sci-fi pop, to see him perk up is a relief to all.
The Herald, November 20th 2014
ends
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