Ubu boys Tom Herman and Tony Maimone make their own music BY FRANKLIN BRUNO

David Thomas’s voice and vision have formed the gravitational core of Pere Ubu for so long, it’s easy to forget that the sundry musicians in his orbit were no mere satellites. For later members like Red Krayola sharpener Mayo Thompson, Ubu were simply one stop on a longer itinerary. But aside from Thomas and analog-synthesist Allen Ravenstine, those who forged the band’s sound in mid-1970s Cleveland are often given short shrift. This isn’t the place to decide precisely what guitarist Tom Herman or bassist Tony Maimone added to, say, Dub Housing. But each is featured on a recent release that affords as good an opportunity as any to recognize them as creative forces in their own right.

Maimone joined Pere Ubu in mid 1976, replacing Tim Wright (later of DNA), and remained until 1993, well into the band’s reunion phase. Saying that he’s been active outside the band is like calling Thomas stout; in the ’90s, he was a choice alt-rock session bassist, most notably with Bob Mould and They Might Be Giants. The homonymous debut by Book of Knots, on fledgling Texas label Arclight, is no solo project but an all-hands-on-deck collaboration. Beyond Maimone and guitarist Joel Hamilton, the key players (and vocalists) are drummer Matthias Bossi and violinist Carla Kihlstedt, both of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (Kihlstedt is also one third of the Tin Hat Trio). Others credited as featured players include Jon Langford of the Mekons, singer-songwriter Meghan Reilly, and — by way of a sampled audio book — an unsuspecting Robert Louis Stevenson.

If you haven’t guessed yet: The Book of Knots is a nautical concept album, each song being associated with a location on an unlabeled insert map. The impression of a not entirely discernible narrative through-line is familiar from any Ubu effort you care to name; the sound has ties to Maimone’s old band as well. The delicate dissonances of "Frank’s Funeral" and "Assistance," which are built from shortwave broadcasts, cymbals struck with ropes, and Marxophone (an obscure cousin of the hammered dulcimer), wouldn’t have been out of place on Ubu’s similarly themed Song of the Bailing Man. But other cuts have entirely different reference points: "Scow" and "Crumble" are essentially art metal, built on chops-heavy — and just plain heavy — power-trio performances.

Despite the album’s solid construction from stem to stern, the individual tracks succeed or fail according to which vocalist is at the helm. Bossi’s stentorian delivery pushes the louder numbers toward Soundgarden territory; Kihlstedt is more effective, especially on "Tugboat," which is sung from the point of view of a long-suffering vessel. "Back on Dry Land" is a standout thanks to the light rhythmic feel and a typically sharp guest vocal and lyric ("I’d rather face the towering sea than be a banker or a brewer") from Langford — himself no stranger to the old yo-ho-ho. Whatever else Maimone may have learned from his years with Thomas, he and his band mates have one lesson down cold: hire a reliable crew.

Tom Herman was part of Pere Ubu well before Maimone came on board, co-founding the band in 1975 after Thomas and the late Peter Laughner had left the Stooges-obsessed Rocket from the Crypt. He also left earlier, after 1982’s The Fine Art of Walking, and hasn’t rejoined since. Apart from two ’80s albums with the undersung Tripod Jimmie, he’s kept a relatively low musical profile; Wait for It (in Glitterhouse’s mail-order-based "Return to Sender" series) is his first release under his own name. Home-recorded and played almost exclusively by Herman, this is a modest, toe-in-the-water project. Present-day Ubu drummer Steve Mehlman appears on two tracks; others are backed by serviceable programmed rhythms. Throughout, the focus is less on imitating a band dynamic than on showcasing Herman’s rough voice (similar to Mike Watt’s) and undimmed vitality on several instruments.

Although it’s no shock to find that the guitarist who riffed through "Final Solution" can still fire off a blistering lead ("I’m Drowning"), the energetic sax work on "300 Years" and "Your Street" is a welcome surprise, recalling fellow Buckeye Ralph Carney’s work with Tin Huey and the Waitresses. But the most revealing tracks are a rhythmically assaultive cover of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s "When I’m Gone" and "Red Haired Girl," an equally grave original that remains gripping over six minutes of layered, harmonically static slide work. On both songs, Herman harks back his "avant-garage" outfit’s own roots in avant-blues: Captain Beefheart, certainly, but also the Numbers Band, the venerable (and barely recorded) group from Kent, Ohio, whose weekly gigs are still spoken of with awe by the figures later involved with Pere Ubu — even David Thomas.