UT was formed in NYC at the tail end of 1978, after Nina Canal abandoned Robin Crutchfield's band, Dark Day. Together with Jacqui Ham and Sally Young, Canal produced rattling trio noise that was akin to that of other second generation no wavers like Information. Swapping instruments after each song, UT were more interesting to watch than many of their kith, and their sound started coming together pretty quickly. Lust/Unlust Records held a release party for their debut single in '80, but the company folded before the disc hit the streets; soon after, UT packed up and moved to London.

There they remain, enjoying a certain amount of success. The eponymous 1984 EP captures them in their original raw state. Conviction is more produced, padding some of the band's acerbic edge with a near-goth gauze. Early Live Life, recorded at various shows in New York and England between '79 and '85, offers a nice assortment of rackety guitar numbers and documents a brief quartet lineup. It's really only with In Gut's House, however, that UT's recording attempts have been completely successful.

This one's nearly as winning a balance of pop-conscious song-structuring and outright-croak as Sonic Youth's EVOL-period. Relatively unknown in the States, UT seems to have splintered some time after the Steve Albini-produced Griller. Which is a drag. They deserved far more hep attention than they got. ~ Phillip Ewing, 80s Retro Music