★★★★★
Ravaged by unemployment, pollution and decades of heavy industry, Cleveland, Ohio, may superficially have seemed like a cultural wasteland in the early-to-mid-70s, yet it still sired several future-heralding proto-punk bands, including Mirrors, electric eels and the short-lived Rocket From The Tombs.
- recordcollectormag.com
2015-08-17
★★★★★
The title of this compilation of seminal proto-then-post-punk legends Pere Ubu's early material immediately brought to mind the tag line for an old cultural radio show in the France of my youth, "L'élite pour tous!". "The elite for all", the show proclaimed, advancing an ambition to share the concepts of high art with those that were supposedly excluded from its lofty realm...
- thequietus.com
2015-07-27
★★★★★
Very few bands display such dedication to constant self-reinvention as Pere Ubu, whose highly methodological madness always seeks new ways of evolving their sound, whilst paradoxically keeping their DNA essentially unchanged. Perhaps only The Fall (who John Peel once famously described as "always different, always the same") can be said to have walked such a similarly fine line over such a lengthy career arc...
- thequietus.com
2014-09-25
★★★★★
So far, 2014 has been a banner year for pop satire, as its two greatest proponents, Weird Al Yankovic and Pere Ubu's David Thomas, released albums within two months of each other. Such an association may seem odd, but consider: both Weird Al and, to a less obvious but no less significant sense, Thomas have made careers out of deconstructing familiar pop songs...
- www.popmatters.com
2014-09-13
★★★★★
Continuing their trilogy of albums inspired by classic films, Pere Ubu move from the noir ambiance of The Lady from Shanghai to songs based on Carnival of Souls, director Herk Harvey's influential, low-budget horror movie from 1962. Lady from Shanghai revitalized the band's creativity, especially on songs like the equally catchy and unsettling "Mandy," which delivered dance-pop Pere Ubu style...
- www.allmusic.com
2014-09-15
★★★★★
Pere Ubu -- Carnival of Souls (Fire)
Carnival of Souls starts in a feedback scree that gives way to the kind of grinding, abrasive, maniacal groove that you might expect from Pere Ubu, particularly after 2013's rock flavored Lady of Shanghai. Yet it quickly devolves into a more surreal, melancholy experience, a not-quite-right landscape of shifting shapes and elliptical spoken word descriptions...
- dustedmagazine.tumblr.com
2014-09-11
★★★★★
Conceived on the road in support of last year's majestic Lady of Shanghai, Pere Ubu have taken their blueprint (if they have such a thing), ripped it up and glued it back together in a way that seems totally alien, yet remains undoubtedly Ubu. Carnival of Souls' astonishing collision of art punk, krautrock, space rock and industrial pummeling is as unnerving as the Herk Harvey film from which it takes its name, and is just as captivating...
- music.thedigitalfix.com
2014-09-10
★★★★★
Label:
Fire Records
Release Date:
08/09/2014
FOLLOW BENJAMIN BLAND
FOLLOW PERE UBU
Carnival of Souls starts like a washing machine choking to death. So far, so Pere Ubu.
But after opener 'Golden Surf II', at least 'Drag the River' is much more straightforw... Oh wait, no it isn't. The bass line sounds like it's being played in a fishtank at midnight. The drums seemingly spend most of the song trying (rather desperately) to escape the song itself and David Thomas.....
- drownedinsound.com
2014-09-10
★★★★★
It doesn't really matter how you find out about Pere Ubu, because once you've heard one of their records, you're unlikely to forget them in any old hurry. Pere Ubu are, quite simply, amongst the very finest of post-punk acts and have the requisite back catalogue and iconic frontman to set them apart from 'the bunch' (see also Bauhaus, The Teardrop Explodes...
- www.thelineofbestfit.com
2014-09-03
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