The members of 2004 Houston Press Best Indie Rock winners Ume, who play Rudyard’s today, have been pretty productive, considering they’ve been split up. While lead singer-guitarist Lauren Langner-Larson and her bassist-vocalist husband, Eric Larson, pursued graduate degrees in Pennsylvania, drummer Jeff Barrera stayed in Houston. “It was always a very time-limited situation,” says Eric Larson. “There was less of an evolutionary process.” However, the band, together since 2002, made good use of their vacation time, touring relentlessly. It paid off when they caught the ear of Brooklyn indie label Pretty Activity, which released Ume’s debut album, Urgent Sea, last year.
Since then, the Larsons have relocated to Austin, where they’re working on new material for their follow-up. “We finally have the luxury of taking our time to write a song,” Larson says. Newcomers and fans of the Sonic Youth-inspired group should have plenty to celebrate when they take the stage following Houston indie heavy hitters Sharks & Sailors and Bring Back the Guns, who open the show at 9 p.m.
Fri., May 26, 10 p.m.
This article appears in May 25-31, 2006.