Pere Ubu are a bunch of witches. David Thomas made a deal with the devil in exchange for musical genius. David Thomas associates with Lucifer himself, guitarist Keith Moliné is a vampire, synth dude Robert Wheeler is the creepy ghost that lives inside bathroom mirrors when you’re awake after 2 AM, other synth person Gagarin is a malevolent forest elf, bassist Michele Temple is a large black cat that speaks human language (with sassy flair!), and drummer Steve Mehlman is a spOoOoky wizard. All rumors, sure, but I mean, how else do you explain this? How else do you explain how this band has been making innovative, awesome, shocking music for more than three decades?
Surely science can offer no truly rational explanation as to why Lady from Shanghai (TMT Review), Pere Ubu’s newish album (it came out on Fire Records in January), is so damn good. It is for us to interpret the signs, to respect Pere Ubu’s dark dealings, and to try not to piss them off till we know if their coven exists to do good :-) or evil :-(. Judging by how many seminal punk and underground bands Thomas and co. have inspired, the more likely answer is: “good.” But don’t take MY word for it. (After all, I’m just a giant sentient swamp blob with the ability to type out weekly news stories for Tinymixtapes.com. Everyone has a different dream!) You can go see them on tour this winter, if you’re a resident of one of the following swell West Coast cities.
Dates:
12.12.13 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
12.13.13 - Seattle, WA - Neumo’s
12.14.13 - Vancouver, BC - The Biltmore Cabaret
12.17.13 - San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
12.18.13 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
12.19.13 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah
• Pere Ubu: http://ubuprojex.net
• Fire: http://www.firerecords.com
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