UJ3RK5 (sometimes written as U-J3RK5, and pronounced "''you jerk''" — the five is silent) was a

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. T ...

-based band from the late 1970s. Their style was

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

/ new wave, but was more

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

than synth pop.

History

UJ3RK5 was formed by Vancouver visual artists Ian Wallace,

Jeff Wall Jeffrey Wall, OC, RSA (born September 29, 1946) is a Canadian artist best known for his large-scale back-lit Cibachrome photographs and art history writing. Early in his career, he helped define the Vancouver School and he has published es ...

and

Rodney Graham William Rodney Graham (January 16, 1949 – October 22, 2022) was a Canadian visual artist and musician. He was closely associated with the Vancouver School. Early life Graham was born in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on January 16, 1949. ...

in addition to Kitty Byrne, Colin Griffiths, Danice McLeod, Frank Ramirez and

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

host David Wisdom. Their self-titled debut EP included "Eisenhower and the Hippies," a song inspired by a work of American

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called instal ...

proponent

Dan Graham Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...

. The EP was originally released by the independent label Quintessence Records, with a second pressing on Polygram of Canada. After a short time, the members disbanded, returning to concentrate on their art careers. However, their music continued to be played and recorded. The ''Oh Canaduh!''

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

s featured two covers of UJ3RK5. "Eisenhower and the Hippies" was covered by

Man or Astro-man? Man or Astro-man? is an American surf rock group that formed in Auburn, Alabama in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade. Primarily instrumental, Man or Astro-man? blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s like th ...

and "Locator" by Servotron. The songs "U-J3RK5 Work for Police" and "Naum Gabo" were included on the 1979 compilation album ''Vancouver Complication'', which was re-released in 2004 on CD with extra songs by

Sudden Death Records Sudden Death Records is a Vancouver, British Columbia based record label run by Joe "Shithead" Keithley, frontman of D.O.A. Sudden Death Records arrived in Canada's burgeoning punk scene in 1978. Keithley formed the label to release his D.O.A. ...

, and then in 2007 as a 2LP set with even more extra songs by the Italian label Rockin' Bones. In December 2016, Primary Information (co-publishing with Emily Carr University Press) released ''Live from the

Commodore Ballroom Commodore Ballroom is a music venue, dance floor and nightclub located on 800 block of Granville Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is regarded as Canada's most influential nightclub, and one of North America's best live music venues. The ...

'', a 2LP set limited to 600 copies. It consists of a soundboard recording of their complete opening set for

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gan ...

on May 26, 1980, includes seven previously unreleased songs as well as performances of the four songs from the EP and "Naum Gabo," and is now out of print. UJ3RK5 was featured in the 2010 documentary film '' Bloodied but Unbowed'', directed by Susanne Tabata."Vancouver Complication"
''Canuckistan Music'', Michael Panontin

References

{{Reflist Musical groups from Vancouver Canadian new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 1979 establishments in British Columbia 1981 disestablishments in British Columbia