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Roué

Upward Heroic Motive (2005)
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Contributed by: Jesse
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Published on November 22nd 2005

Some blurry-mouthed kid singing over some straight-forward rock music that's supposed to be spastic and arty. And apparently they added Steve Melhman (of Pere Ubu / Rocket from the Tombs fame). Wait, what? I Googled that shit, and apparently the dude drummed for Pere Ubu v.8.0, meaning that he started drumming for them in 1997. That shit ain't street. That's just sad. I tried to look him up on Allmusic.com, and he didn't even register. Stupid press sheet, trying to make the band look cool.

The sad thing is, the best thing this band has going for them is that their drummer used to drum for an aging version of a proto-punk band from the seventies. Let's face it. This stuff is just boring, two-chord back and forth stuff with annoying vocals from some dude trying to slur like Tom Verlaine. You can't be in a rock band if you don't rock. And this doesn't really rock. At all.

They even have an eight-minute track on here. And I thought they were boring when they played uptempo two-minute songs. Blah.

At least they're not riding a trend, right? I can't stand it when I'm stuck listening to the latest pop-punk fad. It's just no fun, alright? I can't help it. Next.

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Anonymous (December 20, 2005)

alright douchebag, 1st, i have no idea what allmusic.com is or for what reason you need one's name to appear on it, but i checked, and if you spell my name properly (even when spelled incorrectly, as you do in your review), you would see that i do in fact register on your little allmusic.com litmus test.
2nd, i am still playing in pere ubu, and have done so since 95 (and i'm sure that you haven't heard anything i've done with them, but sure, call it sad, call it unworthy of street credibility-something i definitely do not seek- but it's not on the press sheet to "make us sound cool," it's on there because it is a fact).
and finally, 2 chord back and forth stuff? you must not have done very well in math, or maybe you didn't even listen to the album... regardless, i'm pretty sure that your count is off by several chords...
so, in conclusion, i am sad, but not street, and you are a moron.
love always-
steve mehlman

Anonymous (November 25, 2005)

Unwound are awesome, so I'm gonna give these guys a chance.

-Will

Anonymous (November 24, 2005)

that looks kind of like Sinc's art work (HWM) on the cover.

Jesse (November 22, 2005)

This is a horrible review.

Jesse (November 22, 2005)

That came out wrong. I was saying "at least it's not pop-punk."

Anonymous (November 22, 2005)

I disagree - as far as I'm concerned Roue's sound can be described as a mix of Unwound and Drive Like Jehu/Hot Snakes. It's a little repetitive, slightly angular, aggressive, yet melodic, garag- like at times. Live they put on a very noisy, and well done performance. Nothing standard or "pop" punk about it. It may not suite everyone, but this is one of my favorite releases this year ! You don't hear this kind of music much anymore. It's nothing entirely original, but who is anymore ? Really ! The first few times I saw these guys live, I wasn't too impressed, but recently, they practically blow away the others on the same bill !! I wouldn't consider this "punk" so to speak, but the members do carry a pretty "punk" attitude, not really giving a shit what others think, and doing what they want and how they want.

bdmj