From the album, Black Sea

Saw them perform this on TV (US) when I was a little kid, and it freaked me out. Praying to aliens seemed way out of bounds.

I've been tuning into their first and second albums, and it's insane how much traction they had in the underground, with them appearing in god near every important post-punk / industrial zine at some point given they're mentioned nowhere now.

Genuinely, any time I look anywhere in the history of the movement and genre, they pop up. Somehow only Allmusic remembers them for their complete switchup from punk rock / art punk on their first LP to "154 with half the rock" on their second album.

From the Spanish Revolution single.

From Diamanda Galás first track 1979 "if looks could kill"

It's not listening for the easy, fs

We weirdos back in the day loved it!

Just one man's opinion, but the John Foxx-led Ultravox was better than the Midge Ure-led one.

Don't hate...

I've heard a dozen Pere Ubu tracks on compilations—mostly the early classics. I really like the sense of doom and pressure in "Heart of Darkness," but I have a very very hard time getting past the tight atonal croon of David Thomas. By all accounts, however, there's something special and important about what they do. And I'd like to make one more real effort to appreciate it.

To those familiar with their full discography, where could I go to find something more subdued or tuneful, or somethings with an intensity that puts Thomas's hysteria in a better light? I ask in good faith.

(While I'm at it, I have nearly the exact same problem enjoying The Fall and Mark E. Smith.)

Not the "best female post-punk" list version. The actual pocket: Jayne Casey after Pink Military, Liverpool, cold wave that never got warm.

Low to the Zero (1983) is the one that sticks for me. Vocals sit a little ahead of the rhythm, bass does half the emotional work, and the whole thing feels unfinished in a way that reads intentional rather than broken. Less anthem, more empty corridor.

Curious who else lands here versus who bounced off it for being too sparse. What's the track that converted you, if any?

A radio-only B-side that was unavailable to the great unwashed for years. It was easily found on illegal file sharing sites, but the quality of the files was always kinda sketchy. So glad it's widely available now. It's a great cover of the Patti Smith original.

From the Chronic Town EP (1981)

This is a genius-level cover of their own song.

From his masterpiece "Dreams of reason produce monsters" (1987), here Mick Karn doesn't play bass but instead keyboards and all kinds of wind instruments. Percussionist is former Japan bandmate Steve Jansen.

another favorite <3