Ut was an American band which originated from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

no wave No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and r ...

scene, forming in December 1978. The inheritors of the fertile collision between

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

, and the avant-garde that first manifested itself in the

Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionist Moe Tuc ...

, Ut soon became a serious force within the New York music scene.

History

Ut's members were Nina Canal, Jacqui Ham, and Sally Young. They were joined briefly by filmmaker Karen Achenbach in 1979 before resuming as a three-piece band and relocating to London in 1981. Ut toured the UK with bands such as the Fall and the Birthday Party. Originally releasing albums on its own label Out Records, the band became a favourite of

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

and recorded several sessions for his show before joining forces with

Blast First Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticism, Vorticist journal ''BLAST (magazine), Blast'', publi ...

in 1987. ''

In Gut's House ''In Gut's House'' is the second studio album by American no wave band Ut, released in 1987 by record label Blast First. Reception ''Trouser Press'' called it "nearly as winning a balance of pop-conscious song-structuring and outright-croak ...

'' was originally released in 1988 and made ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

s Top 50 that year. ''The

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' noted, "With ''In Gut's House'', Ut has scraped and droned one of the finest underground rock albums of the year.... The tightly woven, firmly focused sound...is rich, spooky, urgent, and quite unexpectedly beautiful." In 1989, the band recorded and released the album ''Griller'', engineered by labelmate

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

, who shared Ut's raw aesthetic. In March 1990, Ut played its last concert in Paris.

Post-breakup

Sally Young went on to form the band Quint, releasing the ''Time Wounds All Heals'' album on Southern Records. Jacqui Ham formed Dial with Rob Smith and Dominic Weeks (Furious Pig, Het). Dial released three albums on Cede Records: ''Infraction'', ''Distance Runner'' and ''168k''. Nina Canal continues to create music and most recently participated in

Rhys Chatham Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952) is an American composer, guitarist, trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist (flutes in C, alto and bass, keyboard), primarily active in avant-garde and minimalist music. He is best known for his "guitar orche ...

's 100 Guitars project.

Reunion

Ut played a short, unannounced reunion show in London in July 2010. In November 2010, the band mounted a brief tour of the East Coast of the United States. In November 2013, the band played the final holiday camp edition of the

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the so ...

festival in

Camber Sands Camber Sands is a beach in East Sussex, England, in the village of Camber, near Rye. It is the only sand dune system in East Sussex. Located east of the estuary of the River Rother at Rye Bay, it stretches to just beyond the Kent border, w ...

, England. They have continued to perform sporadically since.

In popular culture

Ut is one of the many bands mentioned in

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...

's single "

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. is an American fast-fashion company specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, and most of the ...

”.

Discography

;Studio albums *''

Conviction In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is Guilty (law), guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a ...

'' (1986, Out) *''

'' (1987,

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...

) *''Griller'' (1989, Blast First) ;Live albums *''Live Nov 1981'' (1982, Out) *''Early Live Life'' (1987, Blast First)Masters, Marc (2007). ''No Wave''. London: Black Dog Publishing, p. 121 ;EPs *''Ut'' (1984, Out) *''Confidential'' (1985, Out)

References

External links

official band siteTrouser Press page discussing UtThe Memory Tax
a film by Karen Achenbach featuring music by Quint.
High-Voltage Humans
2006 article about resurgence of No Wave featuring new interview with the members of Ut.

(first of three parts)
Ut in performance
on the DVD "135 Grand Street, New York, 1979" by Ericka Beckman {{DEFAULTSORT:Ut American experimental musical groups No wave groups Blast First artists Musical groups established in 1978 American post-punk music groups American all-female bands Proto-riot grrrl bands