David Thomas and Two Pale Boys

The Profile

Experimental project led by Pere Ubu frontman David Thomas with Andy Diagram (trumpet) and Keith Moliné (guitar). Active from the mid-1990s, they released Erewhon (1996), Meadville (1997), Surf’s Up! (2001), and 18 Monkeys on a Dead Man’s Chest (2004).

Fronted by David Thomas of Pere Ubu (Cleveland, Ohio). Core collaborators: Andy Diagram (trumpet) and Keith Moliné (guitar). Discography includes Erewhon (1996), Meadville (1997), Surf’s Up! (2001), and 18 Monkeys on a Dead Man’s Chest (2004).

A fervent, poetic appraisal of Erewhon (1996), lauding David Thomas’s fiercely expressive vocals and the Two Pale Boys’ spare, evocative soundscapes. The album draws on Samuel Butler’s Erewhon and drifts between folk, jazz, cabaret, and avant‑rock. Specific tracks reveal theatricality and dissonance, culminating in a closing collage titled Highway 61 Revisited unrelated to Dylan. Overall verdict: unclassifiable, wild, and necessary.