Pere Ubu singer David Thomas and his wild guitar & trumpet splinter group, two pale boys, generate strange, beautiful new shapes, rolling stories and sonic panoramas out of spontaneous deconstructions. The simple see-sawing of a melodeon gives way to cascading electronica and expressionistic soundscapes-- sometimes pulsating and abrasive, sometimes mysterious and exploratory. Through it all runs the mordant wit of one of the most distinctive and charismatic singers in modern music.
Among the highlights from SURF'S UP! is the thrilling "Runaway," which loops electric banjo around growling guitars and phone-box-in-hell vocals. "River" swells and subsides before bursting its banks in a glorious technicolour deluge of noise. The Beach Boys daunting epic "Surf's Up" begins sumptuous and gilded, then seems to unwind and unravel in a sonic sleight-of-hand that will leave you breathless. Thomas delivers a vocal so powerfully direct it is quite devastating.
(The cover of "Surf's Up," one of the most "feared" of Brian Wilson's compositions for would be coverists, is based on versions from bootlegs of the lost Smile album.)
SURF'S UP! is the second studio album from David Thomas and two pale boys but it's the group's fourth release overall. Mirror Man (1999), a live recording featuring the group expanded into David Thomas and The Pale Orchestra, was praised widely and enthusiastically. Mojo called it a "tour de force." Meadville, a live bonus disk included in the David Thomas, Monster (1997) box set, was selected by preeminent rock critic Greil Marcus as his favorite record of the year. The first studio album, Erewhon (1996), is "red-blooded, haunted and literally fantastic," according to a rave in The Wire.
David Thomas is the founder of avant-rock legends Pere Ubu.
The two pale boys (2pbs) are Andy Diagram (trumpet & electronics) and Keith Moliné (guitar & electronics). Andy, a member of James in the early 90s, has played in a number of influential groups, including Dislocation Dance, The Diagram Brothers and The Honkies. Currently he plays with the 2pbs and his own group, Spaceheads. Keith refuses to play in rock (or jazz) bands. His approach to music derives from "a careful diet of high-art electronica and low-art prog." He has played in Infidel and as Mesmerist.
Produced, mixed & mastered by David Thomas.
Mix & re-amping engineered by Paul Hamann at Suma.
Recorded by David Thomas and Andy Diagram in Hove & Hackney.
Package design by John Thompson/idrome.
All songs by Thomas-Moliné-Diagram, ©2001 Bug Music, except Surf's Up which is Wilson-Parks ©1971 Brother Publishing Co., and Come Home • Green River which is a medley of Come Home (Thomas-Jones-Krauss-Maimone) ©1993 Bug Music and Green River (Thomas-Moliné-Diagram), ©2001 Bug Music.
Band:
David Thomas - vocals, melodeon
Keith Moliné - guitar, electronics
Andy Diagram - trumpet, electronics
Release History:
Thirsty Ear thi 57096.2 (US) 2/20/1 cd.
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