By Order Of Mayor Pawlicki (Live In Jarocin) cover

By Order Of Mayor Pawlicki (Live In Jarocin)

Released

In 2017, Pere Ubu played a show in Jarocin, Poland. In many ways the evening was a disaster — equipment didn’t work, instruments got broken, people had travel problems. But the performance was a powerhouse. The setlist came almost entirely from the band’s earliest years, and these renditions of classic material like “Heart of Darkness,” “Real World,” and “Over My Head” are electrifying. And their cover versions of the Dead Boys’ “Sonic Reducer” (actually cowritten by Pere Ubu frontman David Thomas) and the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” are bracingly wonderful.

Rick Anderson

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