Dub Housing

Nope

Interesting. Kinda foundational dub stuff. Never got into it, but I can see why it's on the list. 3 *

Post punk, no Dub.

What was that? Maybe it makes sense when you're high. Listening to it sober makes it sound awful.

No thank you.

What the hell was that.

I do not like his voice

This is avant garde and I don't care for it.

I hated this

Random geluiden. Enig ritme niet te bekennen. Zonde want de stukjes waarin wel muziek gemaakt wordt is veelbelovend. Ach. Geluiden der mensheid kan dit album ook heten

Started good, then industrial noise, then pretty good?

First thoughts on first notes - no. Three songs in and really, really disliking. This is going to be a DNF for me.

Meh

It’s fine but not something I’m going to come back to

Another garbage album. I'm really not into experimental type shit. 2/5

I liked this Ubu album better than their prior featured one. A bit trippy to actually enjoy.

Strange.

This was genuinely this first album that I have no idea how I feel about. The parts I liked, I really liked but some of the experimental bits were just weird to me and turned me off from entire songs. Interesting to say the least

At the time of listening this is a 2.37, that's a low rating. I listened to it 3 times. It's a grower. The first 2 tracks are bangers. It gets pretty far out, which I enjoyed. This ain't for everyone. In the last 2 months I have had 46 albums that I had never listened to before. That includes this one and it's really the whole point of this endeavor for me. I don't want albums that justify my listening taste, I want new music that pushes my comfort zones. Solid album.

Too crazy for me. Started cool and then got weeeeeeird

Like Talking Heads in a pirate garage

Weird and bad in a way that is neither enjoyable nor interesting

The only way I can describe this is an alien fucking a speaker that's playing shit music

On a positive note, I only had to listen to this for 35 minutes. On a negative notenote, I had to listen to this for 35 minutes. Fuck post punk with a rusty dildo.

Całkiem niezłe. 4/5 Chociaż głos wokalisty mógłby być inny.

Never heard of this band. Outrageous vocals. Interesting music. This band, and the vocalist, clearly influenced Oxbow. Sounds like if Tunde from TV on the Radio took too much acid and smoked crack then tried to sing underwater. The vocals are too much for me to rate this higher than a 2.

Meh

Uh… I mean I want to be open minded enough to say that there is something in there? Some songs, like ’Drinking Wine Spodyody’ had a groove that was onto something. But at the end it’s just a bit too weird for me. Especially the singing is just too much to handle.

Last time I gave Pere Ubu the benefit of the doubt, that was ill advised. Honestly, it's so over the place an nothing was particularly good. Like what is with the reggae pastiche in "Blow Daddy-O"? Feels like I'm missing something.

Fine

rip david thomas

I enjoy my daily ritual, but nearing album 700 it's all starting to bleed together. I don't even remember the last Pere Ubu album I listened to. Apparently it was 2 years ago. These guys are kinda offbeat and funky, but this album comes off as lackadaisical. Fun moments scattered through, plus it's barely over a half hour long.

No comment

Not exactly pleasant but fun and major points for weirdness.

Now this is fun album, probably not for everyone but I quite enjoyed this from cover to cover

Sounds like the talking heads, and I don't like the talking heads. Too much new wave for me, it felt like there were some good prog-rock riffs that were quickly replaced with dissonance.

Nearly unlistenable but also, it "sounds" so much more recent than 1978 so it seems fundamental. Like Caligari's Mirror has some Rolling Stones vibes and is kinda fun, but also, a nightmare. The back half of the album sounds like an untalented circus. This is a generous 2

It started out ok then got progressively worse

Lcd Soundsystem x Takling Heads. Der skete ihvertfald noget skabet.

2023: Post-punk? Jo jeg kan da godt li’ Joy Division 2025: Hold min øl mens jeg tager eyeliner på! Virkelig et fedt eksperimenterende album. Dog lidt ærgerligt at de instrumentale lydcollager er så lange og ikke bruges til at drive albummet frem.

Is there a reason beyond Kurt Cobain name dropping these guys that would warrant them being on this list? I didn't mind the first one, but this is awful.

Nope. That makes two ⭐️ albums on the list for Pere Ubu. That’s a pretty special accomplishment.

All of the experimentation of Talking Heads with none of the good music. The first few bars of guitar seemed promising, and then he opened his mouth, and all hope was lost.

Please for the love of god, make this bad acid trip stop. I just want to do my homework.

Short at just over half an hour. Light punk, old from the 70’s. Like hippies tried to do punk.

Jeg skal måske tilbage og høre den forrige Pere Ubu plade vi havde igen. Det er meget cool når man ved, hvad man kan forvente

Den her slags plader er et af de fedeste resultater af punk-gennembrudet. Der er ingen regler for hvordan musik skal lyde

This is so much more interesting than 90% of all the other punk albums we've had. Still not really my style, but Pere Ubu really has their own sound.

Nope

Oof. Just oof.

i don't get why making prolonged stupid noise is such a thing but these guys were good at it. unfortunately

Well this is a strange one. Musically unmusical. You can tell they have talent and are purposefully breaking the rules to make a controlled cacophony. It's certainly unique, especially for 78. An interesting listen, although not something I would consider revisiting.

Som en full Anton Halldin

Interest post punk album

Normally, I’m fine with unconventional vocals, especially in punk. This was not one of those cases.

As with their other album on this list, the instrumentals can be good, but the vocal is too distracting and annoying to warrant a second listen.

2nd album of this guy/band. Similar stuff. Irritating mostly. Some moments of interest.

Hot garbage

I always like being pleasantly surprised by albums with a super low rating. How this ended up in the top 20 worst albums is beyond me, it's fun and punchy as hell. It doesn't take itself too seriously nor does it overstay its welcome, what's not to love?

ugly sludgy screeching, sigh

a resounding meh overall. starts out ok with some jangly guitar and actual melodies, like a blend of (and i know most of these came afterward) talking heads, R.E.M., sonic youth, pixies, big dipper, and the like. that synth riff from "on the surface" is gonna be stuck in my head for days. unfortunately for the listening public, the train derails after three tracks and gets cacophonous and residents-y. basically just experimental, avant-garde random noise and unintelligible yelling masquerading as "post-punk" (though the yelling is a near-perfect david byrne impression). while i appreciate how this has clearly influenced other bands i actually do like, it's gonna be a no from me, dog. favorites: on the surface, dub housing

I love seeing bands that really make a point to improve for their sophomoric efforts, and Pere Ubu really expanded their breadth here.

a pretty zany punk rock album, with prominent early usage of synthesizers in addition to the standard guitars and drums. the energy this album has is very different from all the others i've listened to. vocal performances and lyrical nonsense are unlike anything i'm used to. it's a very crazy sound. the album has a demented vibe that makes it sound like it came from a twisted, colorful haunted house. as the album goes on, it gets more and more experimental. it's a VERY peculiar album on this list.

Never heard of this artist. Ya know, I have discovered a lot of artists/bands that I never knew or heard about until this list. These guys are interesting. Not my style but I respect what they're doing.

I'm about 350 albums in (wow!) and this is definitely one of the craziest and most off-beat albums we've had so far. The vocals are very much not my thing, and make it almost a certainty that I won't be listening again. I appreciated the weirdness and wonder, and even some of the music (I was nodding along here and there) but I didn't find it enjoyable. Who would ever put this on, and when? Maybe if it was a soundtrack, you could sit back and watch something interesting unfold to the sound. But just as an aural experience, I can't imagine anyone ever rushing to plop this onto the turntable. It feels indecisive opting for a 3, but the score reflects my grudging respect alongside a hefty dose of "nope, never again, thanks". PS Codex, the final track, nearly lost it a star 😳

Could be Frank Black was a fan? 😂

classic post rock. Separates the men from the boys as they say. You could be forgiven for being turned off by the insane vocals. But this is seminal

oh yeah this is peak alternative. driving instrumentals and lyrics that don’t make sense. my jam. “thriller!” felt like an uncanny valley episode. more so than the others. but i kinda love it. i want to give it a 4/5 but i really don’t think that’s appropriate so i’ll do 3/5.

It's fine, mostly fine.

An okay album, only (Pa) Ubu Dance Party stood out.

It's an absolute fuckfest, but it's not the worst.

Honestly it's another one of the worst rated albums on this site and it's just another weird album that I love for its weirdness. In between singer songwriters that keep the same tempo for 20 hours, there's this weird little gym that sounds as if The Voidz decided to turn off autotune, and it's a bit hard to listen, but it has more soul that a lot of other records on here

Interesting to learn about but not really my favorite

I didn't care for this album. I love punk rock, but this album was a miss. Didn't feel like there was any real substance to it. I won't come back to it.

Interesting, bit of an oddball. Starts pretty strong but tapers off. Fave track is “on the surface”. Off kilter vocals are a bit grating at times, but some fat bass and out there guitar licks.

This sounds like off brand Talking heads, but there were definitely songs here I enjoyed. The first 2 are probably the strongest. Would be happy to revisit those.

A very strange album, didn't love it but I didn't hate it either.

Interesting, talking headsy sort of art rock stuff from a jehovah's witness cat, apparently. Convergent evolution, not sure why the heads got so much bigger. His voice can be a bit much at times, and Jonathan Demme didn't direct a concert film for em.

I had to laugh, really laugh. Is this some kind of "Pogues" on steroids? I don't know why I thought of "Pogues" in particular; maybe I just had "rum, sodomy, and the lash" in my head. This is a real blast. I listened to the whole thing, and I have to say, I really don't know. I didn't know the album, only "The Modern Dance," and I like that much better. 2 stars, that's okay for me.

Yeah... This is pretty shit.

This is the worst “music“ I have listened to so far. The instrumentation is okay and even nice at times. But this singer‘s voice is nightmarish. In German we would refer to his voice as Katzengejammer / Katzengejaule. (Caterwauling in English according to ChatGPT.) The only track that was bearable was Thriller! because the singer shut up for the whole song. This album reminds me of awfully bad musicals or distorted music used in theatre plays. Terrible but so terrible it made me laugh a few times.

It's a 3.5/5, but that's because there are as many cool tracks that I really like as ones that I think are really annoying, so hard to judge if I'll give it a 3 or a 4. Leaning towards the former. 3.5/5

Even though artists love them they were still too niche for me

It's weird, its cool... there's parts I hate and parts I really like. I will be listening to more of their music

You know what? At least it's unique and interesting, which I can appreciate during this challenge, where some albums just fail to leave a lasting impression at all.

Would’ve probably liked this in my 20s because it was so random. Heard pieces that I liked (garage rock, punk).

2.5

This is the best album to put on if you want to get laid. Especially the last track.

Ooh, this is weird! I like it.

What is happening on Thriller? I don't know. This is how the project ends? not with a bang but with a thud? oh well. Codex isn't the ending I wanted but I suppose it is a goodbye.

Pretty cool. Kinds like jazzy, rocky punk

My thoughts going into Navvy "Dude this isn't even that bad theres no way this is one of the lowest rated albums". But then, the singer kicked in with one of the most off-beat unenjoyable voices I have ever heard. The instrumental feels competent except for one or two parts per song I would change/remove, but the singer's voice and the lyrics are so offsetting, I can't find myself to come back to this album again. I can understand wanting to do something different but I feel like removing the enjoyability of the most prominent part of your song wouldn't be my first choice. Thriller! is a highlight for me just for being able to creep me out with just the music.

I had never heard of this! Weird and cool and definitely doing their own thing

It was... fine.

I couldn't make it all the way through. It was awful. It's albums like this that really make me think though. Do the band sit in the recording studio and say "fuck yeah, we nailed that" or do they say "we fucking hate it, that's exactly the sound we are looking for"? In some ways I hope it's the latter. It reminds me of a quote that Chuck D from Public Enemy said about their creative process. He was so sick of the soul \ ballad shit in the 80's (think Freddie Jackson and Luther Van Dross) that he would play what the band had produced to his girlfriend and if she said she hated it then he knew they were onto something good. This album gets 1 star only, I couldn't get to end (I dropped out at track 5 for anyone that's interested)!

Ive never liked an album less from the needle drop that this one

Album 726 of 1001 Pere Ubu - Dub Housing (1978) Rating : 2.5 / 5 The album is known for its experimental sound, blending avant-garde elements with catchy post-punk rhythms. The experience was just so-so. One track brought Phish to mind.

Love the weirdness—some great moments throughout. Lots of threads in this music that clearly influenced other bands. ‘Ubu Dance Party’ was definitely on the radar of Phish. Solid 3.5.

I just don’t like the vocals which is maybe why Blow Daddy-O is my favorite track.

A hard one. It keep my interest but had a few real low points like Thriller. Between a 3 and a 4.

It's still a tough listen, but I liked this better than the other Pere Ubu album on the list.

This was a nice surprise! A lot of bleeps and bloops, reminiscent of early electronic/alternative. But I enjoyed the songs, very catch!

There is a lot to say about this album. Is it all good? No! But it certainly possesses some interesting elements that will push you beyond your comfort zone. I did get into some of the songs, others not so much. I like how little this album doesn't try to make itself likeable.

I didn’t like this but didn’t completely hate it.

1/10… punk rock experimental

What the fuck was that crap...

2.3 2x

#529. The vocals are really off putting here. This could be fine otherwise, but I just can't get past that. 2/5: nah

Pretty weird post punk. Deceiving title, no dub sadly

Wasn’t expecting this from the name of the album but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

First half is perfection and second half kind of is a bit slow for me but it's okay because I'm biased because this is the same Pere Ubu that did The Modern Dance so it's gonna get a 5 I don't give a fuck bitch it's my review and my rules

De muziek is opzich wel nice, maar die zanger klinkt alsof 'ie op zijn 16e pas heeft leren praten. Wat een tyfusherrie...

Truly awful

It's a pretty good and entertaining album that is rather hard to define. Avant-garde rock funk pop might be as close as I can make it. Pere Ubu often travels on the border of cacophony, but never really crosses it, instead being really relaxing and interesting. Positive vibes and positive outcome.

Quite unsettling, yet interesting. The frontman has lots of emotion in his voice, he sounds almost crazy. The use of split audio was really cool, especially for the 70s. I feel like I’m on drugs in a bad trip listening to this. And it’s kinda awesome? Okay Codex is scaring the crap outta me. Mixed feelings fs.

At first I thought the music was ok, the singing was just bad. Then I got a couple tracks in and it got worse. And worse.

Never ever heard of this band but I quite enjoyed it. The singer was pretty unique and the music was also good.

Hmmmmm. Bit squeaky for me.

I absolutely hated Pere Ubu’s first album when I listened to it last year. Now I find myself weirdly enjoying this. Even David Thomas’s god-awful voice has grown on me like blight on a tree… or perhaps some kind of malignant fungus. 7/10

Weirdly ahead of its time sounding

This one caught me completely by surprise. Based on the name of the artist plus "Dub" in the title plus the presence of 2 prior Fela Kuti albums, I expected something more like world music / reggae, and for "Pere Dubu" to be the name of a person from a part of the world where that's a totally normal name for a person. Not so. This is basically proto-Talking Heads sans a couple coats of polish. The guy even kind of sounds like David Byrne. I'm not really sure what to make of this. It's kind of like Zappa or Captain Beefheart, the sort of album that's deliberately weird for the sake of being weird. I didn't really enjoy it per se, but it was kind of interesting to listen to. They are at least doing something different, if maybe not in the most pleasant way (a lot of the difference is just that they play tons of "wrong" notes). I was pretty much set to give this 3 stars, with the 3rd star for "unique", but then I listened to it a second time, and liked it even less on repeat listen. It is just really quite bad in terms of being something that one can listen to and enjoy.

Deliciously strange. Almost off-puttingly so in some places but overall it had a thin sense of familiarity driving it from within. Intriguing album

Pink raro y medio diabólico pero está bastante divertido y cortito. Se me hizo cotorro.

Sounds like a drunk 5 year old sitting on a keyboard

Why is this rated so low overall? This isn’t bottom 15 of the 150 albums I’ve heard so far let alone the 1001 total which will undoubtedly include more stuff that doesn’t deserve it.

A vibe, not my vibe

Could have gotten into this had I found it in my twenties. Yesterday it mainly made me anxious. In a good way I suppose. 🤷‍♂️

nope thanks

Tämä on kyllä mulle käsittämätön kokonaisuus. Tavallaan tykkään laulajan äänestä, mut jos hän tekis muuta kuin rääkyis, se vois päästä oikeuksiinsa.

Mekkalaa.. vai onko? On. Jollain tavalla kiehtovaa sellaista. Kuuntelisin toiste.. ehkä.

1/5

Prog punk. One of the foundational post-punk albums, this is aggressively weird. Funky bass but robotic without any soul/blues - the rhythm is like it’s all made out of corners and could come clattering down anytime, just pure momentum holding it together. Strange layers of keyboard, synth, and effects stacked up on top of each other. The vocals are sort of sung, more like yelped and shouted and wailed. The guitars are there to mess up the rhythm even more and bring more noise to the high end. Follows in the eccentric auteur Beefheart tradition of avant garde chaos, but angrier, less psychedelic and more ironic. Pioneering, influential, but not one to listen to for fun.

Interesting, not bad, but not good. Like some extra weird David Byrne stuff.

Teilweise ähnlich Blur, andererseits aber grober Schmarren…

I appreciate the originality of this album and why it was influential. That said, not sure I would listen to it again.

3 stars

2.7

Yeah I hate this. All the charm of Punk but non of the passion. I feel a little sorry for the rhythm section because a few of the bass lines have some decent groove to them… but then the vocals come back in and remind me it’s an unequivocal 1 star.

Right up one's alley – angular and abstract, deep an discordant, think-y, fully committed and totally original, assertively contrarian and resolutely anti-commercial. Opener gets us off to an intriguingly, off-kiler start, title cut is engaging, and "Cagilari's Mirror" veers and swerves in surprising, counterintuitive directions (which could be said of the whole record, of course). One thinks one might even be able to dance to it, if one tried hard enough – particularly the "Dance Party" track. The eeriest/edgiest bits suggest that they might well have morphed into Sonic Youth, too. To state the obvious: they deserved more recognition.

I did not really enjoy this at all.

I'd rather be smashed in the head with a bottle than listen to this again. No favorite song, nothing good to say. Overall score 0/10.

This album is the first time I really feel challenged by anything I've listened to from this list. Dub Housing is a weird experience full of strange sounds awkward performances, unconventional songwriting and structure. But all of that comes together as something greater than the sum of its parts. By the end of the record I felt like I really understood it. It's challenging and boundary pushing on purpose, but not in a pretentious way. It feels like the music understands what it is and finds freedom in that understanding. Everything in its right place by extension. I really enjoyed my time with this and I feel like I'm going to enjoy it even more on a second listen. 8.5/10

Weirdo punk stuff. I like it. Feels like a proto Mr. Bungle. Not what I expected? I've heard the name once or twice but that's about it. Pretty solid.

Duck stab/Buster & Glen yesterday and this today!! It’s a bit too much. Perhaps if it was listened to a few weeks after yesterdays I might have been kinder. Just strange.

Yesterday Duck Stab and now this - what the fuck was going on in '78?!

2.

While I don't think two albums by Pere Ubu is needed for this list, I did very much enjoy this. I have been told I have pretty horrible taste in music, however. Personal enjoyment: 4/5 Relevance to this list: 2/5

I dont see the vision

I liked the first three seconds of this. It went sharply downhill shortly after. What the fuck did I just listen to? It certainly did not sound swell.

Great stuff

Вроде звук интересный, но у меня ощущение что мне накакали в уши

1. navy - 1 2. zurface - 1.5 3. dubbing - 0 4. mirror - 0 5. thriller - 0 6. uuill - 0 7. drinking - 1 8. dance - 0 9. blouu - 0 10. codez - 0

Is this another one of the author's just highlighting random-ass american/british groups nobody cares about? I'm 30 sec in, and I already hate it. The chicken wailing is doing nothing for me. 1*

Day401 - i’ve never heard of pere ubu and i didn’t know what to expect but maybe they weren’t the best you can tell they are influencing better bands to come

The quirkiness was kinda cool to start but find another voice man

The good, the bad, and the weird.

mostly not enjoyable. I liked some of the more punk moments, but not a fan of the "post" parts

Funny thing about this site is that when you have an open mind, it reveals so many great albums you would normally not go out of your way to listen to, leading to discovering new tastes you weren't expecting. It also reminds you that there's some things you just don't get. And that's okay.

What a disappointment. My 400th album and one of the worse so far. Biggest take away is that I’m away from home in Scarborough a short break so not much opportunity to listen and take in. Some may argue I haven’t given it chance which is fair comment but I think my wealth of musical knowledge and appreciation (60 years) I know what I like and what I despise. Awful recording and an assault on audio senses. Would rather listen to a flock of Scarborough seagull’s which is serenading me now. 1/5 5/2/25

I found this a really interesting album... like half of it felt like it belonged to David Lynch type movie and other parts reminded me of talking heads.

If you ever wanted to be midway through a song and as "is that a pressure washer?" This album is for you. I was biased initially since it is so odd but it's really odd in a very good way

It’s an interesting sound, and I’m sure it’s very influential, but this isn’t exactly and album I’d put on while making dinner or working.

Pere Ubu is a band I’ve known about for a good 25 years, but I never really gave their albums a shot because whenever I heard a song from them on a compilation, it never left much of an impression. Now that I’m actually diving into their albums, they’re definitely growing on me. It does take me a few listens before I really start to appreciate them, but once the album sinks in, I’m completely drawn in. They lean heavily into the avant-garde side of post punk, but they still maintain enough structure to keep things somewhat accessible, which is probably why they stand out among more experimental bands.

ugh

Back in the early 80’s, a few friends used to occasionally spin some PU at shit hole (name of our rental) gatherings. This being a strictly hardcore punk crowd by then, it rarely went over well. It was fortunate we had plenty of beer and coke to get us through the music. Now that I’m sober, it’s just fucking awful.

Maybe on another day I'd give this more but today I've felt nothing but hatred since the moment I woke up. Pere Ubu, see you in hell.

nope

bit weird but i had fun

from a purely instrumental standpoint, the things this band pulls off are pretty intriguing and, without question, highly varied. we're firmly in the leftmost part of the post-punk field, with some of these songs coming off less as rock songs and more as avant-garde sound collages. but when Pere Ubu gets groovy, I start to understand how they were a major influence on indie bands in the 2000s, particularly the dance-punk movement. I'm just glad those bands had better frontmen, though, because I don't think David Thomas' signature yelp fits these songs whatsoever. it kind of kills the whole thing for me, to be honest. decent 5/10.

When this bands experiments work, then this is truly fantastic. When they don't, it's unlistenable. An interesting listen to say the least. Can't say I'm going to be coming back to this one, but I'd rather hear this than something polished and boring.

Wow if it weren't for the vocal styles, I'd be in the 3 range here, there's some really weird and interesting things going on. It's a bit too noisy (and I love noise) for me and the squawky vocals take this down to a 2.

The vocals are like David Byrne at his most manic and constantly at the top of his range. The rest of the band is doing some interesting, if noisy, stuff. Too bad the vocals make this so painful to listen to. I'll go 2 stars because the band is doing interesting stuff.

Yikes, squeaky shoes, scratching, eek sounds. Some of the beats are ok but not really my vibes.

Someone out there likes this but I fear it is not me.

Meh

Best Song: On the Surface. Owner of perhaps the only melody on the whole album. Worst Song: Thriller! Pure distortion and feedback, to little/no creative payback. Lovely. Overall: Good golly is this shit not fun to listen to. It's all drones and noise and buzzing, without any larger sort of musical coherence to make it feel like it's every going somewhere with all that messiness. Not for me.

Just sounded like noises made into a microphone. I can't get excited by it.

1 stern

That was pretty bad

I couldn’t get past the fourth song. Just unpleasant to me. 1/5

Like talking heads if talking heads were just shit

3 stars

This is my second Pere Ubu album on this list. I'm quite surprised this band had 2 albums make the list. This album was sick. Very weird, psychedelic, and from what I can tell, influential. It sounds like it influenced bands like Talking Heads and some of those other 80s groups that kind of sing similarly. The title track reminded me so much of Modest Mouse which was cool since they're one of my favorite bands. It makes sense that they have so few monthly listeners on Spotify since this music is so weird but it also surprises me because with how influential they seem to have been, you'd think they'd have more of a cult following.

Super fun and weird album. I really like this style of post-punk or art-punk or whatever you want to call it. Its raw, its weird, its fun. This is probably one of those albums that just gets better the more you listen to it as well. It feels like there are lots of easter eggs and fun nuances to pick up on. I thoroughly enjoyed this!

This album tickled my brain in all the right ways, every track except for one was engaging to listen to. The exception was Thriller! I never want to hear that again. It made my skin crawl. Anti-ASMR.

The fact that this pile of garbage band has made at least two albums which appear on this list means they have now stolen approximately that many hours of my life. If any of my friends or loved ones ever reveal to me that they like this group, I will immediately sever all ties with them. Dead to me. Like I wish my ears were as I listened to this putrescence.

I enjoyed following the cartoon logic of these songs. The album can feel like a carnival funhouse where mirrors distort your reflection and floors move unexpectedly beneath you. It’s a surreal trip through punk and surf rock with plenty of experimental turns. “Caligari’s Mirror” is a highlight. I love the way that joyful chorus bursts in!

I'm sad about an untimely and unintentional computer restart that made me lose my first draft review, but I'll sum it up: I enjoyed this. Nice level of experimentation and oddities and some interesting traditional composition moments. It was an easy listen and when I wanted to lean in I could, and there was more offered beyond the surface to get what I wanted. I went down a few rabbit holes in looking up this band. Coming across their website was a bit of a bummer because one of the first things you see is an ongoing obituary section of people in the band and various staff personnel. It was a reminder for me that many of these older acts don't have so many existing band members and that we are all listening to time capsules. Gave me a little perspective.

Weird as fuck lol - for that reason alone, it's worth at least one full listen. Per the website's description: "The title is an allusion to the visual echoes of blocks of identical row houses in Baltimore, presumably reminiscent of the echo and reverberation that characterize dub." If only those same Baltimore rowhouses were still as alive, quirky, and vibrant as the bizarre vocals and instrumentation of this album. All that's left today are mostly echoes of what once was. However, I'd be lying if I said I'd ever be inclined to revisit this one. At best it's weird and experimental; at worst, it's meandering and grating on the ears. It holds up solely as a way of transporting the listener back to the late 70s to see what was weird and 'progressive' back then.

It’s weird considering the fact that my 5-star review for their other album is by far my most popular, but I didn’t like this one as much. I guess I’m just not as into this music right now, considering that it didn’t feel that different and it came out the same year.

About 360 albums in, I'm starting to realise that there hasn't been all that much incredible music ever made. If this is good enough to get on the list, I have little hope for the remaining 700 or so This is utter utter bilge. Maybe it's saying something I'm too dumb to understand, but to me it's a band playing that repetitive style so common in the late 70s with unintelligible "singing" over the top. Rubbish!

***An ok album. No much music, more noise than music

I give the group credit for charting their own musical path. However, most of the album is trash; many of these entries are just a collection of noises. The singer is difficult to understand. Reminds me of the Talking Heads, but much worse. They should have released a single with Dub Housing/Dance party, and scrapped the rest.

Never heard of this band before. I like the fonts on this album cover. Vocals are like Talking Heads but dialed up to 15 (and therefore pretty darn annoying). I cycled through {"I don't like this", "Wait, maybe it's OK", "I like this bit"} many times. The Sweet Home Alabama/Drunken Sailor song really took me out. '(Pa) Ubu Dance Party' was a high point, at least for a moment. What can I say? This sure is eclectic. But if I don't know if I like it, then I probably don't like it.

Why am I liking this weird thing? It’s so intense and unpredictable. Real good stuff

I didn’t hate this. I hear some Talkung Heads and some Pixies in here so that’s a win in my book. Codex is terrible though

This is egregiously terrible. Any critic that thinks this should be an album to hear before you die should never be taken seriously again. This is why you don't tell kids they can be anything when they grow up, because the lead singer is atrociously bad. I tried to listen to the entire album it to see how low this train wreck would get, but I couldn't after track 4. I'd rather him come knock on my door and spew his Jehovah Witness garbage than listen to another song off this slop.

I could create a folder for albums like this: Avant-garde or experimental music that was just beyond my tastes growing up but I'm open to listening to now.

Very odd stoner album, pretty experimental for when it released, wasn’t terrible but not something I’m interested in listening to more than once. 2.2

'You should hear how we syllogize / You should hear / about how Babel fell and still echoes away.' All of this, and the rest, is very, very good - original, dynamic, not too deep in strange land, and off kilter enuf - but founded on the pleasure principle, I'll not return as often as I do to others. For sure, it's an unforgettable listen, not that demanding, a pleasurable thing in the end. 'Caligari's Mirror' and '(Pa) Ubu Dance Party' prove it's so. Maybe a bit too cool for school. And not as perfect as Marquee Moon.

Not bad

Something of a tough listen but grew on me a little towards the end...even liked one of the songs (Ubu dance party) in "almost* it's entirety..

Way too underground for my taste. A couple of tracks I could see fitting into a John Peel show but most of them I found tuneless and drab to the ear

I couldn’t sleep this morning. I was tossing and turning with anxious energy. “Oh I know! I’ll put on my album of the day. Some good music will chill me out.” Bruh. Dude’s voice sounds like a crying dog with cotton mouth.

Abrasive and artsy vocal attempts do not a fun album make. That said, I really enjoyed the guitar work across the album, and with maybe just a touch different approach to vocals, this would’ve been something really special for me.

Clangorous, unsettling avant-rock that transforms Cleveland's industrial decay into surreal sonic architecture.

Another great, but musically not as diverse album by this very innovative band.

Experimental for sure, although my Spotify auto-played a different Pere Ubu song after the album finished, and it made Dub Housing sound mainstream.

Painful listen, the instrumental being ok in a few songs saves this from a 1, although the horrendous vocals tried their hardest.

There was a really good song in here! And then a few okay ones..

Boy, not sure what to make of this one. A bit of a slog to get through. Not quite a 1 but darn close.

Noisy, clangy and fun.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt with the first album I heard, but not making that mistake again. Just not something I want to listen to. 1/5

Lot of nonsense. The dance party track was kinda fun.

The cover artwork of Pere Ubu's album Dub Housing is a striking yet somewhat uninviting representation of urban life. Featuring a stark photograph of an apartment building in Cleveland, it captures the essence of post-industrial decay, which aligns with the album's themes. However, while the image effectively conveys a sense of isolation and bleakness, it lacks the vibrancy or creativity that could make it truly memorable. The monochrome palette feels overly drab, and the composition does not engage the viewer as much as it could. Overall, the artwork serves its purpose but falls short of being visually compelling, earning it a modest two-star rating. Album artworks rated: 11/1001 Music's pretty weird lol

pwetty cool, I like the vocals

Dziwna kakofonia dźwięków, która zarówno odrzuca jak i fascynuje. Mrocznie, niepokojąco, brudno. Jakby ktoś wziął porządną płytę i roztrzaskał ją na kawałki. Nie mogę dać mniej niż 7/10, chociaż nie mogę też powiedzieć, że ten album mi się podobał.

Has the sound of artists who could create something conventional but instead opt to to do their own thing entirely. Worked for Picasso has not worked here. 1.5*

Well...there was ~35 minutes of my life I will never get back. What the fuck was that album??? That might be the worst thing I have ever listened to. I am sitting here trying to come up with something positive to say and I have nothing. This wasn't even music...it was just noise. "Thriller!" ....horrendous. I apologize to all other albums I rated a 1....I wish I could give this a 0 or a negative score. (Jacob I really hope you didn't like this album or I'm gonna feel bad) Liked Songs: Absolutely None Tolerated Songs: I guess maybe "I, Will Wait" and "(Pa) Ubu Dance Party"

This blows. Jesus this was a long 35 minutes. And it only got worse after an awful start. 1

херня, не понравилось. слушать невозможно, подойдет для пыток.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I did enjoy this one.

Very different from their first album. Feels more experimental and improvised. Classic situation where a band has years to write material for the first album and a lot less time for the second? Either way, you are unlikely to hear another record that sounds like this, but then again it fits alongside contemporaries like PiL and Talking Heads. I'm also fascinated by the lack of articles about Pere Ubu. Not easy to friend writings about them, leaving it entirely to your instincts. Boy that sounds swell!

I really appreciated getting Pere Ubu's debut album earlier in this collection, in part because of the unique sound and out-there-ness. I was also perfectly happy to have that one album as my sole exposure to them; I wish we could have been given a choice as to whether we wanted *more* of their avant-garage weirdness, or some artist/band that *isn't* in this collection but should be (that list is sadly quite long), as I would have eagerly chosen the latter choice. But "Dub Housing" it is. Boo, 1001 albums! Much like their first album, it's an interesting experiment but I'm not sure any particular track really stood out. "On the surface" is kind of catchy (very mildly so), and there's something a bit compelling to the refrain in "Caligari's mirror". Even though the music is quite different stylistically, I was particularly reminded of the band Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit (maybe just the same sort of experimental noodling). I don't think there's any good reason to give them only two stars, except to balance out the four stars I gave them for their debut album, back when I didn't realize there was more Pere Ubu ahead of us. But that's not really fair to this album, I suppose, even if it doesn't really seem to add anything distinctive compared to their first album (although the "1001 Albums" review seems to suggest this album took a radically different turn, I must admit I didn't hear it).

Damn I needed this this morning. Not really sure why I like this so much--maybe it's the desperate urgency in the vocals coupled with incredibly sharp, confident music. . The music is sharp even when it's fuzzy, distorted, scratchy. Only exception to the strength is Thriller which should have been jettisoned.

Quite shit

Post-punk ain't my thing, Dub Housing ain't my thing either. Last time we had Pere Ubu I gave it a 1 and hated it; this isn't as bad, it's quirky enough in places to catch my attention, just not good enough to keep it. 2.

At least it was short. Sounds like the music you'd like if you thought David Byrne's voice was a bit too tuneful and not strained enough, and that the music could do with being a bit more jerky and weird. 2/5.

Saved Prior: None Off Rip: On The Surface, Dub Housing, Blow Daddy-O Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: A lot of these post punk albums are like an abusive relationship; in the moment you're looking for anything to cling to to justify all the time you've committed to it, and there are highlights that make it almost worth it and make you think they weren't so bad. It almost normalizes the strife it puts you through, punishing you for wanting to love it. But when you step back and really examine your experience you realize you were miserable 80% of the time and it was really really awful for you.

Go easy! It's nice when rock bands decide to "test the water" of experimental stuff, but there is a thin line between being a genius and being a strange that sings alone yelling to the clouds with no one to pay attention to.

2 stars if it shipped without a vocal track. Otherwise one star.

Really this would be a 2.5 but I am feeling generous.

a lot happening here. most of it is works too. could i write poetry to this? y?

Pere Ubu's groundbreaking brand of Avant-Punk is unquestionably an acquired taste. Fortunately, I have enjoyed their flavor for a long time and have always viewed them as Cleveland's most underappreciated gem. In the family tree of Alternative Rock, Pere Ubu is low on the trunk. So much of what came later can be traced back to them. Considering this list's affinity for debut albums, it is surprising that Ubu's first album, "The Modern Dance," wasn't chosen. They also made much more conventionally accessible records, like "Cloudland," which is sadly unavailable on the primary music streaming services. I have a pretty funny story about the first time I met Pere Ubu's notoriously prickly frontman, David Thomas. Ask me about it sometime.

3.5. Really liked this album and where Spotify went from there. Also The Fall interjected in a mix is very good.

A challenging, but ultimately rewarding listen.

it is not bad by a long shot. but what is it really? a collection of noise? an artsy project? the insane ramblings of a madman?

I liked the music, but the singing was just hard to get past on the first listen. On the second listen I was more okay with it, but still not past it.

This is too noisy and weird even for me

Interesante por distinto. No es de fácil escucha.

Crap. Tha crapest crap.

Great to hear this, but I did not care for it.

Really bad

Kinda weird. Some ok tracks but fond of sound

It was cool I'm a rock fan so this isn't necessarily my kind of music

This album sucks. Feels like it's different just for the sake of being different. Nothing it's doing appeals to me. DNF Fav Track: On the Surface

Dub Housing is the second album by Pere Ubu, originally released in 1978. Wow, this is some weird shit right here. It really highlights the difference in the post-punk movements between the US and UK. I always felt like the US bands got way weirder. This is a prime example of that. The instrumentals themselves are great. I definitely hear some influence on later bands such as the Pixies. These guys shift all around genres, from alternative rock to rockabilly to ambient and avant-garde. The vocals are a whole separate story. They're almost anti-music. They're so atonal and crazy but it fits the music somehow. This would probably be so good when performed live. This wasn't exactly enjoyable but then again it wasn't made for mass consumption. I can definitely see the historic significance of this album.

I couldn't make it through these songs.

Interesting lol

did. not. like.

Awesome and unexpected

A basic understanding of French will help anyone appreciate avant-garde music. “Avant” means “before”, and “garde” means “anyone-realised-being-experimental-didn’t-equate-to-being-interesting-or-good.” It can also be described as merde-totale (total shit). I did not enjoy this album.

If bad jazz session went punk

Is there something wrong with me if i enjoyed it? Because i felt like i shouldn't, but the album even felt kinda comforting.

first listen this one was super strange, but also not that interesting

Jesus Christ it’s weird. So I’d never heard Pere Ubu before but I had heard of Pere Ubu and forgive me, I hadn’t realised that they were from Cleveland. That doesn’t help with my reconciling how goddamn weird this album is; it probably compounds it.

Day 62 - November 10th, 2024 This is now the second Pere Ubu album I have stumbled upon, and I love it. 4/5

3.5 rounded up could be right up my alley but i feel like it just drags a bit. either way ….. does a gay little jig that pisses you off highlights: navvy, (pa) ubu dance party (jan 15 2025)

Umm... what, now? Eclectically irritating.

A few songs were very odd and skipped.

Listen for a minute, skip, listen for a minute, skip, listen for 30 seconds.. nope

Fine

Not good. Maybe just ok. Too much edgy vocals ruining an otherwise fun vibe. Talking Heads was a clear inspiration here. Post-punk may have some good albums, but this isn't on my list of recommendations.

Welche Wohltat für die Ohren. Wenn die Nadel wieder abhebt.

I really don't know what to make of this. Sounds like an audial equivalent of what I expect a snuff film to be like.

What a magnificent slab of weird

Caligari's Mirror was unpleasant to listen to... I did not enjoy the sound experimentation in Thriller! either. This was definitely some sort of experimental music, and I am just not a fan.

This band is the inverse of Duran Duran. For every smooth, slick, accessible, note Duran Duran produces, Pere Ubu has its counter. It’s not that it’s bad (it isn’t), it is just crazy how consistently challenging it is to find an inroad. They are musically talented, but even more challenging at pushing the boundaries of accessibility.

It was like there were spiders in my ears, and they were dancing out of time

Dime store Talking Heads. No doubt ahead of its time. But lacking the polish to hold up through time.

Bit strange 4/10

Ok.

I could get around some of the music and found it enjoyable to some extent but his voice grates on me. 2

Trying to be weird and random for attention and also trying to add a veneer of depth but it doesn't work

Pere Ubu son una banda poco conocida y muy poco comercial, que no encajan en ningún estilo particular (avant-garage, art-punk...) sin embargo a nivel de crítica son muy reputados y su influencia es enorme en la no-wave, el Post-Punk y muchas más corrientes. Navvy podría ser una estupenda canción de Pixies, solamente cambiando el tono de voz de David Thomas por el de Frank Black (recordemos que Eric Drew Feldman, frontman de Capitán Beefheart y que estuvo con Pixies o Frank Black, se unió a Pere Ubu en posteriores discos además de participar en numerosos y fabulosos proyectos). On the surface y Dub Housing tienen rasgos de los mejores Talking Heads. Caligari's Mirror es un delirante versión del clásico tabernario Drunken Sailor. Thriller! anticipa 4 años a Michael Jackson, solo que este sí que da miedo de verdad. I, Will Wait con su punk de estructura más normal. Drinking Wine Spodyody es loud-quiet-loud del que bebieron Pixies y todo un tropel de grupos hasta el día de hoy. (Pa) Ubu Dance Party, efectivamente invita a levantar los pies del suelo y ponerse a saltar. Blow Daddy-O es un alucinógeno viaje electrónico Cierre con Codex . Un disco apabullante. Otros discos de 1978: The Man Machine de Kraftwerk, debuts de Kate Bush, Pere Ubu, Magazine, , Public Image Ltd., Dire Straits, Police, The Only Ones, Devo, The Cars y Siouxsie and the banshees, (también Chris Rea y Midnight Oil), así como discos esenciales: C´est CHic, Plastic letters y Paralell Lines, Some Girls, This year´s model, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Incantations, Équinoxe, Ambient 1: Music for Airports, All mod cons, Some girls, One Nation Under A Groove, Outlandos d´amour los directos de Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy, Bob Marley, AC-DC y The last waltz, e incluso Grease.

Schrecklich.

What am I meant to do with this? It's doing what it wants to decently well but what it wants to do doesn't give a damn. Cool to do your own thing. Not for me to come back to.

I made it through this. I can appreciate the cacophony, but I don't think I will bother to do that this time. Not sure that it needs to be on the list.

Not for me

you know those rubber chicken toys that squeak and squawk when you squeeze them? this guy’s voice kinda sounds like if someone were dancing all over a giant one of those for 35 minutes. all i can say is thank god it was only 35 minutes (and even then that was too long)! some of the slower instrumental bits (”caligari’s mirror”) were interesting but that’s about it. actually i couldn’t finish this cos it was too irritating and pointless to me. sorry messrs. ubu…

sorry i have no opinion on this so i guess it was fine. historically im kind of no thots head empty about pere ubu but maybe i should google why they are included in this list

Dave its Dave Lynch here. Been thinking that those new wave bangers from the first album are a bit superfluous. I really liked the crazy soundtrack stuff that sounds like it should be in one of my movies. So make a whole album of that. Cheers other Dave, I think we will. Having said that it's still a good listen, if you lean into the craziness.

Não curti mutio a sonoridade. Fiquei surpreso com várias reviews positivas. Talvez eu não compreenda o artista.

It is hard to figure out the world that's been built here. One minute things are smooth sailing, nothing amiss even though the edges appear jagged. The next minute, we're underneath a murky, discordant atmosphere; one that places somebody in a state of unease. A brief reprieve appears but we get back into that dark place, where we stay until the end, where we have to think about it all the time. Quite appropriate considering the state of things back in the late 70s. A place where you wouldn't wish to go to again, but it'll stay with you for a lifetime.

Chickens cannot speak human words. They can respond to our voice, and will make noises in response. But if they could speak human words, or sing, I imagine a chicken singing in our language would sound just like the lead singer of Pere Ubu. The vocalizations REALLY distracted me from the music, which was a bit chaotic, but could have been interesting. It's just... not good. Not awful, but not good either. NEXT.

A little gag / line / meme from Family Guy that I often use is "everybody gets one". But for this list, it often seems like everybody gets two and I just don't get it. I thought Pere Ubu's debut album was tough to listen to, and this is not a step in a better direction. So if you want to include them on this list for their sheer weirdness in the post punk genre, fine. But give them one album, not two. Maybe this album could be better than their debut. But I don't really care to put in the time to find out. I'm giving it a 2 because I'm annoyed having to hear them again. Almost gave it a 1 because I really didn't care to finish listening to the album.

Harsh listening, not repeat listening vibes

Roots of indie rock

I wouldn't have listened to it if it were not for this exercise. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not.

I get that their music is intentionally weird, but it also sounds like shit. Especially the vocal, sounds like it was made by the jostiband

There was an inkling of optimism initially but this just rapidly descended into something that I don’t think I could ever describe.

Never heard this before. Proper weird shit. Definitely helps to be in the right mood and place for this. Luckily, I am today. Really love the strangeness. Great title, great cover art. An odd surprise.

Kind of interesting.

Es raro, pero banco. Algo prácticamente distinto a todo. Como de música teatral de terror o drama oscuro.

Literally only yesterday I hadn’t heard of Pere Ubu before, and now today I’ve been generated another album by them. Unfortunately, a lot of what I felt about The Modern Dance can be reiterated by Dub Housing. It wasn’t bad, by any means, but it definitely doesn’t leave me wanting more or have me particularly engaged. There isn’t really much to write about with this one. It feels like a bit of a copy paste of yesterday.

Wow... This is obviously intentionally dissonant and shitty... Can't say I'm the biggest fan of "post-punk" like this. Maybe it would make more sense in the cultural moment or something, because this shit just kinda sucks listening to it today. Is that an uninformed take? Probably, but it's just not for me.

Pretentiöst faff. Inte min grej.

Not for me ://

Fucking garbage and it’s a tragedy that I got two albums from this artist in the span of a week.

i haven't heard a single second of Pere Ubu before now, so i was surprised to find out they were an electric cockroach jugband playing blues from your bathroom floor. they're celebrating -- the radio is on, the shower is running, and you are dead. sometimes i dread running into foundational post-punk classics, but sometimes you find something really fun and crazy. Pere Ubu, despite recording from miserable conditions (Cleveland), bring as much fun as they do crazy.