Pere Ubu

It's a harrowing testament to the music Pere Ubu made that now, 25 years later, the sonic doom of a song such as "Final Solution" still resonates so clearly. In the midst of a blindly contented era, its lyrics "don't need a drug/need a final solution" still scream out a punctual message for the dot-com masses. Formed as what could be considered the agit-junk-art conceptual parallel to the Velvet Underground, Pere Ubu stormed out of Cleveland in the early '70s, armed with a unique and industrial buzz sound that resulted in a handful of brilliant and stormy singles. David Thomas's vocal whine and warble wound up sounding more sinister than silly, as he sneered out a pungent lyrical assault on the backs of an exceptionally inventive and dynamic band. With its early, enormous importance hardly understated, Pere Ubu moved into the '80s slowly evolving -- at times into a more accessible pop format. Still honed as sharp as a shard of scrap metal, Ubu continues to maintain its relevance through endless label, stylistic, and lineup changes. Cleveland expatriate David Thomas has a new and altered lineup for Ubu's series of 25th anniversary shows, but the performance at the Rock Hall earlier this summer confirmed its capacity to faithfully deliver the old songs. And, although it's all been given a new coat of paint since the '70s, the world, and Thomas's Cleveland, ain't too much different today -- the call for a final solution is, perhaps, as urgent as ever.