Nuke The Whales 2006-2014
Rewriting the history of music, Pere Ubu continue to confound convention and shift personnel. The next box set in Fire Records’ reissue series, ‘Nuke The Whales’ houses 4 LPs originally released between 2006 and 2014 – ‘Why I LUV Women’, ‘Carnival Of Souls’, ‘Lady Of Shanghai’ and ‘Long Live Pere Ubu!’. ‘Nuke The Whales,’ is a nod of respect to a couple in Cleveland who would daub such messages over the big news stations’ advertising boards. “Very few bands display such dedication to constant self-reinvention as Pere Ubu” The Quietus Three albums have been remixed by David Thomas in 2021 with ‘Carnival Of Souls’ being remastered; the renamed ‘Why I LUV Women ’originally released on Glitterhouse in 2006 bore the line “This is an irony-free recording”, it gains its first vinyl release. David Thomas says “I did an album of love songs. I studied the question of why I love women and I was concerned of people not accessing the deeper level on the songs, so I threw in the Jim Thompson-esque title to throw people off – or on to – the scent. It ended up in garbage bins in radio stations despite a full explanatory press release. You need me to spell it out? I spell it out for you on this release.” It’s joined by ‘Long Live Pere Ubu’ a soundtrack to a musical adaptation of the play. “Skronking, squalling rhythms and melodic snippets undulating round a pulsating soundscape.” Record Collector And ‘Lady From Shanghai’, their Fire debut for Fire in 2013. Originally released on the 35th anniversary of the group’s debut, ‘The Modern Dance’, a latter day re-evaluation of the unprompted dance genre. And its follow up ‘Carnival Of Souls’, a haunting “underscore’ to a tale of alienation, it “combines metallic percussion, spare guitars and David Thomas’ muttered vocals into something rustic and rickety, yet threatening at a moment’s notice.” AllMusic