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Pere Ubu, Swoon 23, ICU
Crystal Ballroom, 1332
W Burnside St., 778-5625
9 pm Wednesday, June 24
$8 Pere Ubu
Pennsylvania
(Tim/Kerr)
Of related interest: Red Krayola, The Fall, Sonic Youth In 1978 The Modern Dance--the debut album by Cleveland's avant-garde, New Wave act Pere Ubu--landed on planet Earth. David Thomas' musical machine keeps on rumbling, and its 11th full-length, Pennsylvania, is just as esoteric and stimulating as that first album. The new one begins where 1995's Raygun Suitcase left off; strange twists of retro-cum-futura noise mix comfortably with arbitrary waves of sound and sharp guitar lines. Thomas' famously warbling-yet-warm voice and his enigmatic lyrics hold together all the sonic bits and pieces. Pennsylvania's non-linear songs are punctuated by stretches of dark tones and plodding rhythms. The back-to-back numbers "Silent Spring" and "Mr. Wheeler" weigh heavy with deep, crawling bass tones and Thomas' prophetic voice tumbling out like tar. The faster-moving "Drive" is the most traditional song on the album,with its approximate verse-chorus-verse format and a shuffling beat. Eerie swishes of slide guitar and theremin color "Wheelhouse" as Thomas wails his deepest secrets on the stunning closer. Few other left-of-center, 20-year-old rock bands are as vital, challenging and important as Pere Ubu, and Pennsylvania helps remind us why. Alyssa Isenstein |
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