Se Nuke the Whales guarda in modo unitario ai quattro album ufficiali dei Pere Ubu del periodo 2006-2014 - per l'occasione tagliando, cucendo, aggiungendo e ritoccando i materiali in modo non indifferente - On the Air raccoglie alcune sparse sessioni radiofoniche offerte dal gruppo in assetto ridotto, provvisorio ed estemporaneo (ma non meno interessante) nella prima metà degli anni Novanta: Petit Ubu.
Pere Ubu had an offshoot in the 90s, called Petit Ubu. Available members of Pere Ubu would answer the call for radio sessions with largely improvised and always good humored sets, sometimes making use of fire extinguishers as impromptu drum sets, just letting the songs go into what they were going to be that day. This album is the cream of all those recordings that were made from those sessions.