Ut was an American band which originated from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

's no wave 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 Wales ...

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

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

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabri ...

, Ut soon became a serious force within the New York music scene. Jacqui Ham (Ut)

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 A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

Out Records, the band became a favourite of

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

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 Vorticist journal ''Blast'', published by Wyndham Lewis in 1914 ...

in 1987. '' In Gut's House'' was originally released in 1988 and made ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

s Top 50 that year. ''The

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' 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 Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

, 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 minimalism, minimalist music. He is best known for his "g ...

'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 on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

festival in Camber Sands, England.

In popular culture

Ut is one of the many bands mentioned in

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock 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 for the rest ...

's single "

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain 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, ...

”.

Discography

;Studio albums *''

Conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is cons ...

'' (1986, Out) *'' In Gut's House'' (1987,

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

) *''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 All-female bands Proto-riot grrrl bands