Pere Ubu: The Waffle House Near Walden Pond

Pere Ubu recently announced a new album, Trouble On Big Beat Street, which will be released in May 2023. This is a bit of a surprise, as the last album was called The Long Goodbye and was billed as "the end of a road".  Career-spanning box sets appeared in 2022. Previously unreleased songs and official bootlegs were let loose from the avant garage.  A sense of history and finality seemed to be in the air.

David Thomas still leads the band, which now includes Michele Temple, Keith Moliné, Andy Diagram, Gagarin, and new members Alex Ward and Jack Jones.  Andy started his career with The Diagram Brothers and Dislocation Dance.  Andy and Keith Moliné were the "Two Pale Boys" who performed and recorded with David Thomas. Andy Diagram has also been a member of James, The Pale Fountains, and the duo Spaceheads, among others.

Gagarin (born Graham Dowdall) began drumming professionally with Ludus, then played with Nico, John Cale, Eric Random, Sons of Arqa, Zor Gabor and others.  Michele Temple was a member of Cleveland bands The Vivians and Home And Garden before the latter band "merged" with Pere Ubu circa 1987. 

Michele Temple teaches guitar at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.  She and Keith Moliné are both published authors. Gagarin is an academic lecturer.  Alex Ward has an extensive career as a composer and improviser.  These are serious musicians.

The timeline of Ubu members is not unlike that of The Fall. Ubu's website states, "As long as David Thomas is in charge and The Rules are followed, it's Pere Ubu."  Mark E. Smith would approve of the sentiment.  Keith Moliné points out in his review of Pere Ubu reviewers that, despite the public perception of David Thomas as a hire-and-fire employer (again, like MES), only two people left Pere Ubu in two decades.

MES and David Thomas are both idiosyncratic "singers" with a professed disdain for musicians ("Musicians Are Scum") and the music industry. Both are intelligent and outspoken, with no false modesty about the significance of their music.  Both men are also known for their love of their cities (Cleveland and Manchester). Both created projects combining music and theater ("I Am Curious, Orange" and "Hey! Luciani"; David Thomas' Mirror Man, "Long Live Père Ubu", and the Two Pale Boys' Shockheaded Peter). 

Today's sampler of songs recorded between 2002 and 2020 takes its title from a David Thomas lyric ("At the end counter table of the Waffle House with the view of Walden Pond" - from The Long Goodbye's "Fortunate Son").   It includes songs from the three albums by the reformed Rocket From The Tombs, as well as Pere Ubu's albums and live recordings.

In June 2023, Pere Ubu will perform in NYC with Faust. Former Ubu members Tony Maimone and Allen Ravenstine plan to join Pere Ubu onstage.