urgent sea

Ume's drummer has a bassdrum with a whole series of lines with slashes through them. Somehow I doubt this is how many groupies he's tagged while on tour, but it very well could be one of the following:

a) how many cities they have burned down with their exquisite noise.

b) number of reviews they've had where they are compared to Sonic Youth and/or PJ Harvey.

c) representation of all the men on tour that she-devil and guiterrorist Lauren Larson has had to turn down because she is married to the bassist Eric.

d) number of back-to-back repeated plays their CD gets once you have witnessed their intense live show.

How on earth this Houston trio manages to create such a beautiful racket on stage is still confounding me. And how Lauren (who almost has her Ph.D in philosophy!) can flail about like a unmanned fire hose and not have the feedback blow her petite frame out of the club entirely. One moment she is cooing in your ear and seducing you but once you've let your guard down, out come the fangs, the claws - and you find yourself delightfully eviscerated. This is what the Yeah Yeah Yeahs want to be if they headed their influences and concentrated on music not image. Grab their debut from Pretty Activity

Ume - Wake
Ume - Manic
Ume - Hurricane