A recent purchase from a charity shop, I was expecting far more noise and experiment than tunes from Pere Ubu's 'rock opera', even with the guest appearance of Sarah Jane Morris. So it was with some trepidation and mixed expectations that I popped this into the CD tray.
But it's surprisingly listenable fare from this incarnation of Pere Ubu, the nucleus of which I saw a couple of years later. The overture makes full use of the band's repertoire of electronica and guitar/drums, while the interplay between Morris and main man David Thomas drives the story throughout the album. March Of Greed is a joyous song of acclaim for Père Ubu, while the belching of the 'fat toad' in Less Said The Better makes for a difficult listen, as is Big Sombrero, although in a much more rewarding sense. Road To Reason is a lively, almost rock song, and the joyful refrain of "Long Live Ubu King" from earlier is revived in Slowly I Turn.
The overall feel is one of Pere Ubu doing what they do best, a tight and musically innovative unit under Thomas's manic declarations and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. The story climaxes with The Story So Far, a slow mysterious start and a long narrative piece, held together by a lazy bassline from Michele Temple, and electronica from Gagarin and Robert Wheeler.
While it's not the most immediate of listens, it repays further visits. I can't claim to have followed the storyline (seems like this Père Ubu is a bit of a wrong 'un), but I've enjoyed the album. I find Pere Ubu a little like The Fall, in that you never know quite what you're going to get, and feel a new album is a potential risk. This one doesn't disappoint.
4* - a lovely narrative of strangeness
Commenti