Pere Ubu - The Pere Ubu Moon Unit (2015)

"Pere Ubu has never visited Cleveland, Ohio, but it sounds like an interesting place and we hope to go there one day." David Thomas // Since the American Federation of Musicians have blocked Pere Ubu from performing in America, the band has renounced not only its American 'citizenship' but also its American past. The Pere Ubu Moon Unit, a subset of the band, has released 'Leeds', a petition to the authorities in that English town, to grant Pere Ubu asylum as a band that formed in Leeds, in 1975. Those authorities are a specially convened congress of the members of Gang of Four, Sisters of Mercy, Soft Cell, The Mekons and The Wedding Present. Any member of the congress may object and Pere Ubu will then turn to the authorities in Port Talbot for sanctuary. Following on from their improvised sets on their Visions of the Moon Tour, 2014, the Pere Ubu Moon Unit was born as solution to the often irritating conversations regarding Support Bands. David Thomas says "if we're going to have to endure crapppy support bands then we'll do it ourselves. The Moon Unit plays a 30 minute show of songs made up from nothing." 'Nothing' never materialised. instead, there were half hour continuous performances that opened unique new pathways in the Pere Ubu sound. Songs were formed, the musicians pushed their own and each other's boundaries, Thomas was Ringmaster, with sleight of hand and voice. Whilst unmistakably the 'sound' of Pere Ubu, these sessions were raw and fascinating, and it was only through chance that a recording was captured. This album was recorded at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, during the November 2014 tour of the UK. This intelligent and theatrical recording exudes the unrelenting energy that was witnessed by the audience during these 'support' sessions. It is an extraordinary and just addition to the Pere Ubu story. At the end, Thomas concludes with a suggestion to the observers, "If you were cool like Jimi Hendrix, or something, or Brian May… you'd turn that into a national anthem".