Thursday 30 January 2025, 7.30pm
“I swear I have never seen a band play harder, I have never seen musicians put so much into their instruments, I have never seen such concentration on stage; in short, I have never seen people make rock ‘n’ roll so much their own, using the normal tools to create a singular, bone-shaking form of expression.” – The Village Voice
Ut is a radical rock group founded by Nina Canal, Jacqui Ham and Sally Young in NYC in Dec 1978. Originating in the downtown No Wave scene and inheritors of the collision between rock, free jazz and the avant-garde, Ut exploded the rigidity of conventional rock, constructing songs through collective improvisation, swapping instruments and rotating the role of singer/director.
Migrating to London in 1981, Ut played with bands like The Fall and The Birthday Party and released music on their own label, Out Records. Ut became a favorite of BBC's John Peel and recorded sessions for his show. Joining forces in 1987 with the label Blast First, they released the critically acclaimed In Gut's House in 1988 and made that year’s NME ‘Top 50 Albums’. The album Griller followed in 1989, engineered by label mate Steve Albini, who shared Ut's raw aesthetic and captured the band’s intensity.
Ut disbanded in 1990, but began performing again in 2010. The band is currently reissuing its remastered catalogue on Out Records, through Forte Distribution, and available on Bandcamp.
“UT have an almost Mishima-like intensity in their attack and their understanding of how what you love the most is often what rips you totally apart." – Your Flesh
“The raw power and sheer drive of Ut is quite straightforward and unmistakable. This is a true threatening guitar band." – N.Y. Rocker
Following a 2-year hiatus from live performance and with a new studio record due to be released in 2025, The Engine Room returns to Cafe OTO bringing their own unique collision of improv flavoured with psychedelic, free jazz, kosmiche and tribal rhythms for your listening pleasure. Formed in 2016, the current line up of the band features core ex-members of UK noise-rock pioneers GOD (Gary Jeff - Bass/effects; Shaun Rogan - Guitar) and stalwarts of psych-noise madness Terminal Cheesecake (John Jobbagy - Drums). Expect the unexpected.