I've seen Pere Ubu a few times with variable performances. Most recently, in 2022 they were disappointing, but David Thomas' wife did given me a nice tote bag (Pere Ubu - Avant Garage), their show a few years earlier at ICA, London was one of the finest gigs I've enjoyed.
I bought this album (inspired by the Raymond Chandler novel) on release, and haven't listened to it much, which doesn't bode well. Pere Ubu's sound is very much an acquired taste, but I'm finding that David Thomas' voice has mellowed with age, more songspeak and less falsetto. Laid over a backing of heavy electronica, theremin, clarinet and furious guitar and drums, when it works, it's sublime.
Sometimes on this album it does work. The opening song What I Heard On The Pop Radio bounces the album into life, while Flicking Cigarettes At The Sun is a strong, powerful number, but the rest of the album really doesn't live up to expectation until the end, with the extended, dark yet moving The Road Ahead, Skidrow-on-Sea - slow, brooding and a lovely accordion accompaniment - and the final song, Lovely Day.
The second disc is a live performance in Paris in December 2018, consisting of the entirety of The Long Goodbye, with a few additional songs. Usually these things are a bit "yeah, thanks, but I won't be listening to this again", but in this case, it seems to have caught a fantastic Pere Ubu performance, and these songs feel to me to have a bit more life than the studio performances. And another listen to Heart Of Darkness is always welcome.
3* - an album with lots to enjoy for the Pere Ubu fan, but I doubt it will add any fans to that number.
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