Elsewhere, tracks like River and Ghosts prove that experimental needn't equate with unapproachable. An optimistic set of songs from a genius. He doesn't really fit in anywhere. Among a heady batch of releases bearing his name in recent years, this is probably the best. Puttering, stuttering, squealy and brooding, it is emotive and intense, moody and sublime.
Songs loom and swell and slow and fade and rise and fall and kick and catch.
It is harrowing and haunting, beautiful and haunted stuff in which to both lose and find yourself. Your vocals are the best ever and the production is a perfect fit. Most surprising and stunning is their version of Surf's Up, which remains true to, while transfiguring, Brian WIlson and Van Dyke Parks's original and is further evidence Thomas is as much a wayward genius as they are. Pere Ubu in Cleveland, Ohio. Uninhibitedly prolific, he has been making up for that slow start ever since.