Pere Ubu

One of the American underground's most influential bands, Pere Ubu express the angst and chaos of their times with apocalyptic fervor and surprising humanity. Led by frontman David Thomas -- whose absurdist warble and rapturously demented lyrics defined the band -- Ubu emerged from Cleveland's urban wastelands with their 1975 debut single, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," which introduced the self-destructing melodies, scattershot rhythms, and industrial-strength dissonance they expanded on with 1978's debut album, The Modern Dance. On later efforts including 1989's Cloudland and 1993...