Voting Station

Pere Ubu

Please vote to return to collections.

Musicians

The Resume

    (1975- )
    Born in Cleveland, Ohio
    Post-punk/experimental rock band
    Original line-up:
    David Thomas, vocals, guitar, melodeon and trombone
    Peter Laughner, guitar
    Tom Herman, guitar
    Tim Wright, bass guitar
    Scott Krauss, drums
    Allen Ravenstein, synthesizers
    Recorded the albums 'The Modern Dance' (1978), 'Dub Housing' (1978), 'New Picnic Time' (1979), 'The Art of Walking' (1980), '390 Degrees of Simulated Stereo' (1981), 'Song of the Bailing Man' (1982), 'The Tenement Year' (1988), 'Cloudland' (1989), 'Worlds in Collision' (1991), 'Story of My Life' (1993), 'Ray Gun Suitcase' (1995), 'Pennsylvania' (1998), 'Apocalypse Now' (1999), 'St. Arkansas' (2002), 'Why I Hate Women' (2006) and 'The Lady from Shanghai' (2013)
    Songs include '30 Seconds Over Tokyo,' 'Final Solution,' 'Waiting for May' and 'Love Love Love'
    Band name taken from the lead character of Alfred Jarry's play 'Ubu Roi'

Why they might be annoying:

    There were endless personnel changes (starting with Laughner leaving after the band's second single due to drug addiction), with Thomas as the only constant.
    In the band's early days, Thomas went by the name Crocus Behemoth.
    Attempts to describe their sound include 'a demented nursey rhyme sing-along' and 'James Stewart trapped in an oboe.'
    Thomas said, 'I consider Pere Ubu to be a pop band, totally the same as Wings, the Music Explosion or the Archies. It's just that we're doing more modern and therefore better pop music.'
    They had such lousy sales that Imago Records eventually paid them to not record.

Why they might not be annoying:

    Their fanbase, though small, is devoted.
    Their mid-70s singles have been called 'the missing link between the Velvets and punk' and 'a pre-punk band with a post-punk sound.'
    Bands who cited them as an influence include the Pixies, R.E.M., Husker Du and Bauhaus.
    When the band was invited to appear on Late Night with David Letterman but Mercury Records refused to pay the travel costs, they held a press conference that resulted in donations from Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and members of REM, the Pixies and Jane's Addiction.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying