Name: Carnival of Souls
Brand: Pere Ubu

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

firelp358

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2024-06-14

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Cargo

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

809236135810

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Pere Ubu

Genre GB

New Wave / Post Punk

Label GB

Fire Records

Fire Records is an independent record label headquartered in London, England, UK. Founded in the mid 80s, Fire Records has been a prominent force in the music industry for decades. They have released early records from Pulp, Teenage Fanclub, Spacemen 3, Blue Aeroplanes, and many other influential artists. In the early 90s, the label was home to notable acts such as Neutral Milk Hotel, The Lemonheads, Built to Spill, and Urge Overkill.With a rich history of discovering talent and nurturing their careers, Fire Records remains dedicated to supporting groundbreaking musicians across various genres. Their diverse roster showcases both established names and emerging talents who push boundaries and challenge conventions.

Evolving from Cleveland's Teutonic protopunks, Pere Ubu was formed in 1975 by David Thomas and guitarist Peter Laughner. Ubu's early singles, "Heart Of Darkness" and "Final Solution," showcased their restless angst before it became popular. With superior musicianship and influences from Thomas's Jehovah's Witness upbringing, Pere Ubu released albums like The Modern Dance and Dub Housing that subverted rock norms. After a split, the band regrouped for more self-indulgent albums through 1982. They returned with renewed focus in 1988 and continued to experiment with pop textures while maintaining their unique sound.

Tim Kerr Records picked up the ball with 1995's Ray Gun Suitcase—a mix of Ubu's vicious rock, luscious pop, and art-damaged identities—and a series of multimedia-enhanced EPs. Throughout their career, Pere Ubu has consistently pushed boundaries and defied categorization. Their music is characterized by Thomas's distinctive warble and their willingness to explore unconventional sonic territories.

With an extensive lineup that has included notable musicians such as Tom Herman, Mayo Thompson, Allen Ravenstine, Tim Wright, Tony Maimone, Scott Krauss, Chris Cutler, Garo Yellin, Robert Wheeler,and Steve Mehlman among others—Pere Ubu continues to create thought-provoking music that challenges listeners' expectations.

'Carnival of Souls' is Pere Ubu's 18th album over a forty year career that has seen them break rules, confuse and continue to divide music critics globally. Carnival of Souls was conceived in the midst of a gruelling tour schedule that accompanied the release of Lady from Shanghai. The band performed a live underscore for a screening of the 1962 movie that gives the new album its name at the 2013 East End Film Festival in London. A 'shock troops' version of the band went on the road in the UK and Europe to evolve those ideas into songs, improvising entirely new sets of music around core themes each night.  On the road, the frayed nerves of the group meant they would switch from a whisper to a scream at any given moment, provoking each other, egging each other on and occasionally erupting as if in violent rebuke, before moments of gentle, bittersweet reprieve - an extraordinary work resulted. Transporting from relentless speed to weightlessness, noir riffs to drums pounding hoodoo grooves, each track offers a different experience. The CD version of the album includes 'Brother Ray,' described as a twelve-minute prequel to Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust. On the vinyl version, five one-minute 'Strychnine Interludes' are woven through the album. Built around shortwave interference, a deconstructed garage riff and secret Morse code transmissions, these interludes underline both the otherworldliness of the songs and the album's credentials as a song cycle.​

Carnival of Souls

Music GB