THE UNITS - HISTORY OF THE UNITS: THE EARLY YEARS 1977 - 1983 (Community Library)

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When looking back towards 1977 between the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco - a setting considered to be the pioneering stages of the sub-genre known as synth-punk -  The Units have always been mentioned third in conversation behind The Screamers and Nervous Gender. However, that is only if you do not give a proper nod to Ohio's Devo and New York's Suicide - both whom experimented with synth-driven rock before 1977. The philosophy behind synth-punk is simple: play punk rock music by replacing the main guitar parts with synthesizers. So, rather than use a synthesizer to embellish a rock'n'roll song played with traditional stringed instruments, The Screamers and The Units would use synths to perform lead melodies, bass lines, and even chord progressions while rarely sacrificing tempo or an aggressive, desperate delivery . What would help keep their output sounding raw and rarely over-processed is the use of live drums instead of drum machines, often with an rough, unbalanced mix of percussion and crash cymbals. Not only would The Units be considered the first San Francisco punk band to not use guitars, they were the first to hire a visual artist (video projectionist) as a full fledged member of the band (Rachel Webber, who would later settle in as one of the band's synthesizer players and co-vocalists). Unlike The Screamers who exhibited a archetypal sense of punk rock aesthetics and culture, The Units survived the late 70s to become one of San Francisco's only true post-punk bands. They achieved this by redesigning their blueprint to allow songs to be more experimental and danceable - often avoiding any confusion with most of the commercially accepted new wave scenes.

The History of The Units begins with a 59 second tribute to Mabuhay Gardens emcee and promoter Dirk Dirksen, who passed away three years ago. The intro showcases the sharp and articulate tongue of Dirksen affectionately insulting The Units and a crowd of rowdy San Francisco punks. "Cannibals" immediately follows, showcasing The Units' ability to write quirky and high energy punk rock during their most primitive stages. Imagine a blend of The Weirdos, Wall of Voodoo, and Devo and you'll get an idea on how songs like "Cannibals" represent. In 1979, The Units would release their first 7" single, "High Pressure Days", which is featured as the fifth track on this collection. I am certain I have heard the drum and bass parts sampled in a hip hop song during the 90s, yet I can't recall which one. "High Pressure Days" definitely has a Run-DMC groove that sounds more like the Talking Heads enacting disco-punk than anything rap related. Following is "i-Night", possibly the longest Units song from their first few years and one that is a journey through everything a synth-punk band can accomplish without guitars including complicated lead parts (think your typical Eddie Van Halen 70s guitar solo played by Gary Numan on his keyboards) and plenty of melodic bridges piecing many challenging parts together.

Missing from this 21-song collection is "The Right Man" 12" single from 1982 and both releases from their days on Epic Records (1983), although those omissions should not imply that there is a second retrospect in the works. Much of what is featured here appeared on The Units only full length release Digital Stimulation and various EPs that were self released prior. Among the few previously unreleased songs to appear on this album, "Straight Lines" is the definite standout. A gothy new wave number, this could had been a sitting duck waiting for Nick Rhodes or any of his contemporaries to consume and regurgitate had it been properly released in 1981. Others that never saw an official release include "I-5" which mimics a run of the mill Depeche Mode track from their first record, and "Run" which gives us some insight on possible listening habits of Units founder and main songwriter Scott Ryser as it includes a tribal drum pattern resembling early Throbbing Gristle. Although each track sounds ahead of it's time, many do not sound as timeless as "Straight Lines" and come off more dated, possibly due to production quality rather than the raw innovation involved.

History of The Units may be an overdue collection of a forgotten band from San Francisco's early punk years, but it is not intended for the typical 80s/new wave enthusiast. Rather it's meant for the audiophile looking to complete his/her collection of primitive recorded works from artists that rode the frontier between what was punk and what would eventually become American new wave.

Clicking >>HERE<< will give you a pop-up player where you can hear samples from The History of The Units.

Amazon also has a free mp3 download of "Cannibals".

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