The formidable machine that is Pere Ubu in a live setting is one that's been recorded in action before. While there's considerable chaos on any Ubu LP, the live ones seem to be where we get to the real heart of darkness, to use an obvious and groan-inducing reference to one of this band's best singles. By Order of Mayor Pawlicki: Live in Jarocin, out now via Cherry Red, captures a 2017 set in Poland that contains a real punk attitude in the playing.
"Heart of Darknes" is a roller-coaster ride, while "Real World", from the The Modern Dance, is a mechanical stomp. The players here -- Gary Siperko (guitar), Robert Wheeler (analog synthesizers), Michele Temple (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Steve Mehlman (drums, piano, backing vocals) -- keep pace with front-man David Thomas but it doesn't sound like it was an easy task. Thomas growls and practically snorts some of these lyrics, such that these are the rougher, most pure versions of some of these compositions since they were first laid down to tape. "Small was Fast", from New Picnic Time stomps and stammers with unhinged menace, while "Fabulous Sequel" from the same album is loose and limber. This one in particular shows what spry power is flowing through these musicians, and the singer at the head of the Ubu-beast. "Long Walk Home", from Song of the Bailing Man, might be the most impressive work-out here, and most vigorous.
By Order of Mayor Pawlicki: Live in Jarocin comes with a bonus disc, We Don't Do Encores, with live numbers recorded in 2018 in other European cites. While the main disc is a showcase for the band to work their legendary back-catalog, this one adds in some covers. And while it's illuminating to hear the band tear through classics by Dead Boys and The Mc5, I far more enjoyed the ragged "Final Solution" here, and a lengthy run at "Weird Cornfields", a number from one of David Thomas' rare solo releases. These tunes here are as muscular and spindly as those on disc one, of course, just different in purpose.
There's a vibe all throughout this release that feels like the band's almost angry at the music for existing. Like the music has to be pounded into submission. Where the experimental -- for lack of a better word -- proclivities of Pere Ubu have always been lurked about in the grooves and joints of every tune ever recorded by the multiple line-ups of the band, this set proves what a formidable outfit David Thomas has had at his disposal these last few years. There's still real fire here in his singing, and the players keep up the pace. Removed from their moorings, these cuts still provoke a chill or two, and still seem, in the hands of these musicians, radical in spots, and thoroughly essential. You can never have too many versions of "Heart of Darkness", you know?
By Order of Mayor Pawlick: Live in Jarocin is out now via Cherry Red.
More details on Pere Ubu via the official website.
[Photo: K Boon]