I've always been afraid Thomas will crack at some point and turn into another conservative bigot crank. So I skipped Why I Hate Women, for instance, afraid of what I'd find. But whatever I've listened to semi-recently I've liked. It is the drama: Thomas' confidence man cum demented street preacher persona and the band's edgy punk rock chamber music tightness. They sound like an alternate universe version of '50s Atomic Age blues; like a guy in Invasion of the Body Snatchers walks into a bar and this is what's playing when he realizes it's too late; like that Old Weird America in "The End."
I've always been afraid Thomas will crack at some point and turn into another conservative bigot crank. So I skipped Why I Hate Women, for instance, afraid of what I'd find. But whatever I've listened to semi-recently I've liked. It is the drama: Thomas' confidence man cum demented street preacher persona and the band's edgy punk rock chamber music tightness. They sound like an alternate universe version of '50s Atomic Age blues; like a guy in Invasion of the Body Snatchers walks into a bar and this is what's playing when he realizes it's too late; like that Old Weird America in "The End."
loved seeing pere ubu back in the day; thomas bashing his chest as he sings is like a punk yom kippur confessional