The Tenement Year is Pere Ubu

Pere Ubu

Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group from Cleveland, Ohio.Père Ubu may also refer to:* Ubu, the enigmatic central figure of a series of French plays by Alfred Jarry, including Ubu Roi, and subsequent plays Ubu Cocu and Ubu Enchaîné...

's first album after reuniting (following their 1982 break-up), and sixth overall. 'Classic lineup' members Tony Maimone and Allen Ravenstine, along with fellow Cleveland scenester Jim Jones and Henry Cow

Henry Cow

Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members...

 percussionist Chris Cutler

Chris Cutler

Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...

 found themselves playing with David Thomas for his 1987 album Blame the Messenger

Blame the Messenger

Blame the Messenger is singer David Thomas's fifth studio album. The album features three of the five 'Modern Dance' era Pere Ubu members, as well as resembling Pere Ubu sonically...

, and, discovering they sounded much like Pere Ubu, began incorporating a few Ubu numbers while touring for that album. Eventually, an official reunion was pursued, original drummer Scott Krauss was contacted, and thus the new lineup was completed and the old mantle assumed. The Tenement Year found the group veering in a loose, freewheeling, and decidedly more pop-oriented direction than in the past, though the pop leanings would become even more pronounced on subsequent albums.

After being out-of-print for many years, a reissue was announced in early 2007. http://www.ubuprojex.net/ty.html

Track listing

1. Something's Gotta Give – 5:13
2. George Had a Hat – 4:02
3. Talk to Me – 3:28
4. Busman's Honeymoon – 4:35
5. Say Goodbye – 4:58
6. Universal Vibration – 2:43
7. Miss You – 4:21
8. Dream the Moon – 3:25
9. Rhythm King – 4:26
10. The Hollow Earth – 4:15
11. We Have the Technology – 3:03

Personnel

• David Thomas
  David Thomas (musician)
  David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.He was one of the founding members of the short-lived protopunkers Rocket From The Tombs , where he went by the name of Crocus Behemoth, and of punk group Pere Ubu . He has also released several solo albums...
  
  : vocals, trombone, spike
• Jim Jones
  Jim Jones (guitarist)
  James E. Jones, known as Jim Jones, was an experimental music artist, producer, and guitarist in the rock band Pere Ubu. Jones was a founding member of many experimental rock bands of the 70s and 80s including: Easter Monkeys, Foreign Bodies, Mirrors, The Styrenes, Home And Garden, and Terminal...
  
  : guitar, backing vocals
• Allen Ravenstine: EML synthesizer, sax, backing vocals
• Tony Maimone
  Tony Maimone
  Tony Maimone is a bass player, producer, and engineer who lives in Brooklyn, New York.He was a member of Pere Ubu from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, often playing with drummer Scott Krauss...
  
  : bass, backing vocals
• Chris Cutler
  Chris Cutler
  Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
  
  : drums, percussion
• Scott Krauss: drums

and

• John Kirkpatrick: Melodeon