Long Live Père Ubu! is an album by the American band Pere Ubu, released on September 15, 2009. It is a soundtrack to a musical adaptation of the play from which the band took its name. The band performed its adaptation at (Le) Poisson Rouge. David Thomas referred to Long Live Père Ubu! as the first "true" punk album to be released in 30 years.
Sarah Jane Morris played the part of Ubu's wife.
Critical reception
The Independent wrote: "Reflecting the original play's deliberately repugnant manner, the accompaniment is full of martial, rat-a-tat drum fusillades and pompous marches, synth whines, washes of white noise and colossal bouts of belching, perfectly embodying the childish antagonism of Jarry's irrepressible urge to 'epater la bourgeoisie.'"
Record Collector called the album "a hall-of-mirrors audio play with a linear narrative, scronking, squalling rhythms and melodic snippets undulating round a pulsating soundscape."
Track listing "Ubu Overture" - 2:42 "Song of the Grocery Police" - 1:46 "Banquet of the Butchers" - 2:55 "March of Greed" - 3:34 "Less Said the Better" - 2:31 "Big Sombrero (Love Theme)" - 4:06 "Bring Me the Head" - 3:39 "Road to Reason" - 3:55 "Slowly I Turn" - 4:25 "Watching the Pigeons" - 3:21 "The Story So Far" - 7:57 "Snowy Livonia" - 1:20 "Elsinore & Beyond" - 1:35
Personnel Pere Ubu David Thomas - vocals Sarah Jane Morris - vocals Keith Moliné - guitar, vocals Michele Temple - bass, lead vocals Steve Mehlman - drums, percussion, vocals
References