UME
Vocals, Guitar / Lauren Larson
Drums / Aaron Perez
Bass / Eric Larson
Live Guitar / Don Cento
“Ume immediately won me over with their raucous bursts of guitar-driven art rock, with front woman Lauren Larson threatening to take the whole thing off the rails with the abuse of her guitar strings. Still, underneath this Ume possesses an air of intelligence and depth rare in a genre known primarily for its copious drug use. When it comes to art, psychedelia, and rock and roll, it doesn’t get much better.” —Village Voice
"A shitload of rawk in a tiny room" —Anthony Bourdain
“There are a few bands out there that are actually better than the hype, and Austin’s Ume is one of them… as long as bands like Ume exist, I’m going to scoff every single time some publicist tells me about some mope-core band that’s “killing it.” —Antiquiet
“Distortion-heavy jams (and the whole marriage thing) invite comparisons to Sonic Youth, but Ume do more headbanging and wailing.” —Rolling Stone
“This band is ready to break out in a whole new way… A little like fuzzy shoegaze, raw garage rock and irresistible pop all rolled into one fiery package” —Nylon
“If a futuristic amalgam of Mastodon and Queens of the Stone Age were to jam a bunch of Fugazi tunes and rope in PJ Harvey on vocals, then this could well be the result…” — Metal Hammer UK
"Lauren larson occupies the Mount Olympus of women in rock" —Pop Matters (live review)
“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.” —The Independent
“How could I have not known about Ume? An Austin trio fronted by a whirling dervish of singer guitarist who in the standard PR band head shot looks like she wouldn’t hurt a fly; yet give her a guitar, a Marshall stack and a mic and stand back, way back. She shreds. File under - Do Not Overlook and Go Tell Your Friends…” —Dave Allen, Gang of Four
“It wasn’t the ’90s that Ume’s set brought to mind, but the late ’70s. On studio tracks like "Captive” and “Rubicon,” Ume pulls off a glistening indie-pop sound gentle enough to land the group on the soundtrack of The Vampire Diaries. Their live sound is much thicker, like Black Sabbath covering a Smashing Pumpkins tune. They’re a power trio, complete with smokin’ guitar solos and trashcan endings. It’s a righteous sight to behold… When I went to check out Ume’s merch after the set, there was a line. These three are definitely on their way up.“ —Houston Press
“The group, led by powerhouse singer/guitarist Lauren Larson, has merged the sounds of heavy rock and ethereal indie pop with deft precision,FInding new ground somewhere in between Warpaint, Metric and Mogwai.” —Relix
“It sounds dangerous and sexy like French kissing over an electric fence.” —Tom Tom Magazine
“Ume attacked the stage with an intensity on par with Mastodon and a vulnerability reminiscent of PJ Harvey.” —Artist Direct
“Bandleader, guitar virtuosa, and straight up bombshell Lauren Larson runs around stage like a firecracker ready to explode at any given moment, pouring all of what she is into the performance… It’s rare these days to see a band so talented, with such unbridled passion, who are also completely down-to-earth and modest.” —Brooklyn Vegan
“Live, Larson’s an ambivalent siren, letting the crowd feed on its own objectifying presumptions – of sexuality, admiration, innocence, vulgarity, or vulnerability – only to shatter all of that upon the rocks of her own complete immersion in the music, the melodic lull and devastating pummel of Ume…” —Austin Chronicle
“Ume’s Lauren Langner Larson - a diminutive blonde rocking opposite her bass-playing husband, Eric - may be the most promising female voice to smack the indie rock world in years.” —Independent Weekly
Photos by Kelly Starbuck
