“30 Seconds Over Tokyo”’s subject matter is self-evident from the structure of the song itself. It menacingly attempts – some might day chillingly succeeds – to re-create the do-or-die nature of a pilot assigned to deliver death from above. It features jarring, fried analog synthesizer that compliments another deeply intense, brooding backdrop of guitar, bass & drums. The song sputters and coughs in a hailstorm of synth noise and Thomas’s repeated muttering of the song’s title to bring this masterpiece to an abrupt, crashing end. As cliché as it sounds, I am still spooked by the ending of this one in a way that few songs have ever moved me. That original Pere Ubu unit – Thomas, Laughner, Herman, Krauss, Wright & Ravenstine – were among rock’s most cohesive and forward-looking. Once they’d staked their place in 7” history, they unfortunately were never again documented in this configuration (Laughner ended up bringing his tragedy-defined life full circle by O.D.ing). Their self-referential term “avant-garage” couldn’t have been more appropriate, as no other band in ’75 could legitimately claim to push the boundaries of emerging rock and roll form as wonderfully and as artistically as Pere Ubu did. [Source]
[Dedicated to Allan Vegenfeldt, Peter H. Olesen and Steen Birger Jørgensen]
New Music United 