Over the course of five early- to mid-'80s solo albums, Pere Ubu frontman David Thomas indulged his whimsical side, displayed an extreme fascination with nature (The Birds Are a Good Idea, Crickets in the Flats, etc.) and offered his theory of "spontaneous simultude" to anybody who was listening, which is to say very few, considering these albums ventured far from the realm of rock -- even rock as Thomas heard it. On Blame the Messenger, Thomas teams with former Henry Cow drummer Chris Cutler, fellow Clevelander Jim Jones (guitar), and old bandmates Allen Ravenstine (synths) and Tony Maimone (bass) for an album that is parked firmly in Ubu's avant-garage. As always, the larger-than-life Thomas commands attention, but this album belongs to Jones, who provides Thomas with the anti-guitar heroics he has sorely missed since Tom Herman left the parent band in 1979. In Jones' deft hands, even a lapse into whimsy like Friends of Stone works, thanks to a backwards psychedelic solo that would make George Harrison smile. Best of all is the undeniable one-two punch of King Knüt and When Love Is Uneven. Jones' nagging Beefheart-ian riff on the former is followed by the latter's slo-mo verse, climactic chorus, and Ravenstine's brooding synth fills, recalling Ubu's classic My Dark Ages. Thomas hasn't exorcised all the hokeyness (see My Town and Velikovsky 2-Step) from his system, but, for the most part, Blame the Messenger is a platter that clatters. With the addition of original drummer Scott Krauss, this lineup would be recording as Pere Ubu within the year. ~ Torey Marcus, Rovi

1		My Town
2		A Fact About Trains
3		King Knut
4		When Love Is Uneven
5		The Storm Breaks
6		The Long Rain
7		Having Time
8		Friends of Stone
9		The Velikovsky 2-Step

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