Ume

"When Touch & Go had its 25th anniversary celebration in Chicago two months ago, the old and abrasive cognoscenti Shellac, Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard gathered with the label's new blood, a hit-and-miss convocation of bands that can only fuck with Austin's best indie rock trio, Ume, in their nightmares. Led by the banshee sweetness of Lauren Langner Larson, who howls and hums like a the human embodiment of histrionic, Ume lets its bombs tick over bold math-rock clocks, shifting and spreading through arrhythmic, atonal and perfect excursions that are as complicated and calculated as they are emancipating and explosive. If you see one band this month, make it Ume. As with openers Bellafea, there's a lot worth knowing here." (11-06) - By Grayson Currin

�Every once in a while, a band comes along out of nowhere and catches everyone off guard. The sounds emanate the right way, the performance is stellar and the crowd’s reaction is one of unanimous approval. UME is one such band... With a brand of dissonant rock centered on the furious guitar playing of vocalist/guitarist Lauren Larson, UME’s performances have become something of legend in Houston over the past two years. Lauren’s guitar parts are characterized by a series of eerily beautiful, high-pitched tones, amplified even further by her tortured guttural screams. Backing her are bassist Eric Larson, her husband of four years, and drummer Jeff Barrera, both of whom hold down a driving backdrop as Lauren weaves her parts in and out, typically ending up flailing around on her knees playing guitar or abandoning the upright position altogether, twirling on her back in a mass of guitar cords…� (07-04) - By Lance Walker

If the petite Lauren Langner Larson were walking down the street nonchalantly, you'd have no clue of her Kim Gordonness. Onstage with her Austin trio, Larson freaks out, blond hair flailing, guitar light as air. With her husband Eric on bass and Jeff Barrera on drums, Larson's Ume is a reckoning force, as evidenced on 2005's debut, Urgent Sea (Pretty Activity). (March 2007) - By Darcie Stevens