Ume
Having accumulated near-unanimous accolades on the blog circuit, including a few breathless comparisons to late-'80s/early-'90s rock godheads Nirvana and Sonic Youth, Austin power trio Ume seem poised on the brink of some serious attention. Led by deceptively waifish singer-guitarist Lauren Langner-Larson, Ume (pronounced “oo-may”) traffics in unselfconsciously anthemic rock 'n' roll fueled by Larson’s slashing, expressive guitar style. Aided and abetted by a brutally precise rhythm section composed of bassist Eric Larson (Lauren’s husband) and drummer Jeff Barrera, whose primal urgency lends the tunes a metallic heft, Langner-Larson’s riffage evokes the focused squall of first-wave alternative, balancing serious chops with focused, tasteful playing.
The full breadth of the band’s sound isn’t really that sound-biteable at all: Ume’s self-released EP, Sunshower, channels the cavernous production of classic rock—the EP was tracked to a vintage tape machine by go-to Austin producer Frenchie Smith—but to distinctively post-modern ends, with elements as extreme and diverse as sludge-metal, dream-pop, and avant-noise constantly roiling just below the record’s glossy surface. Before the band plays Kung Fu Necktie tonight, The A.V. Club had a few quick words with Langer-Larson and Barrera about grindcore, grinding out Sunshower, and grassroots band promotion.
The A.V. Club: The new EP has a '90s feel. Do you feel a kinship with that era?