New Wave Outpost Forum

by **British** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:29 pm

This is really goof stuff. There's the prevalent "hard" synth in all their songs. It reminds me of devo a bit, without the humor. You can hear the hard synth quite a bit in "digital stimulation"

Are there 2 vocalists in this? I swear I hear a man & a woman individually on some tracks here.

by **oneno** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:50 am

Discography
High Pressure Days (7")
Warm Moving Bodies (7")
Units (7")
Digital Stimulation (12")
The Right Man (12")
A Girl Like You (12")
New Way to Move (12")
Units have been covered here before but hey they're a good group and worth bringing up. The "Units" were one of America’s first electronic new wave bands.Originaly were a San Francisco trio consisting of two synthesizer players and a classically trained percussionist Jim Reynolds.Scott Ryser on lead synthesizer, while Rachel Webber was on bass synthesizer. They started out playing Cabaret Voltaire-style cacophony, but quickly developed an educated electro-pop approach.The Units second album "Digital Stimulation" and subsequent singles produced by Bill Nelson were my personal favorites. In 1983, following the success of an independently issued 12-inch dance-floor hit ("The Right Man," produced by Michael Cotten of the Tubes), the Units — by then a quartet with two more synthesists/singers, Jabari Allen and David Allen Junior, in and Saunders out — signed with Epic and went to Wales to record, again with Nelson. Incredibly, the resulting album also never saw the light of day, but a six-song 12-inch was released, combining "The Right Man" and "A Girl Like You" with three songs from the Nelson sessions and an Ivan Ivan dub mix of one of those. Solidly appealing and catchy dance-rock officialy disbanded in 1984 and I can't find any info after that.

[i]Chuck[/i]

by **Grunch** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:54 am

Definitely a mix of male and female vocals. Their 1980 release on 415 records, Digital Stimulation, is a quirky new wave synth LP, and I felt their 1983 EP release of New Way To Move was a smoother sounding synth-dance-pop feel, although still quite excellent IMO.

Sure would be nice to see a CD release of their material. I've managed to convert to CD-R with nice quality, but still a legit release is almost always better sounding. I say almost, since the recent release of Ruefrex on Cherry Red is just horrible quality - from vinyl and sown right noisy as hell. My homemade CD-R is far better than the Cherry Red release. What makes it worse is you get no warning before purchasing that the sound will be so terrible. They could not have possibly listened to it and thought it was really acceptable quality. Sorry a bit off Units.

by **oneno** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:29 am

I saw a reference to a 2001 release called "sucks" on artists direct? anyone know of this release???[?]

[i]Chuck[/i]

by **firefall** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:01 am

Maybe, the nearest band in Screamers synth punk.They used to play together, and their first single''Cannibals'' is essential for everyone loves avant punk sounds.Their last release''New way to move''doesn't make justice to this terrific band,but after all its a pleasant electro dance disk.

by **SomebodySomewhere** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:12 pm

Probably the only band I know who had not one, but two albums go unreleased. Scott Ryser was schtupping Rachel Webber, so her "singing" on their records was more than a little nepotism.

The "Girl Like You" video (done in a high school gym) got some pretty decent airplay on MTV during the summer of '83 -- despite being significantly cheaper and poorer-done than the other videos they were playing a lot at the time. (The breakdancing part still cracks me up.) Mind you, after dumping the "New Way to Move" EP into stores in the Fall of '83, Epic Records washed their hands, and I guess that finally broke them up.

Ryser and Webber were still together as of a few years ago, running some hand-painted ceramic company out of Brooklyn.

by **Ollie Stench** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:22 am

I love The Units, but all I've ever been able to track down are the two 12". I agree there was a husge change with the signing to a major. Chalk it up to growing as musicians, record company pressure, or a combination of the 2.

by **SomebodySomewhere** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:37 am

"The Right Man" didn't sound all that different to me from the rest of the EP it eventually ended up on. Which would seem to attest that that was the direction they wanted to take.

I have a few mp3s on one of my computers, I think. If I can find where they're hiding, I'll post them. Or someone else can.

There's a fan site which tells their story far better than I could. Ryser's interview was pretty informative -- particularly the part about how their refusing to sign a new contract drafted by 415 Records head, Howie Klein, was what led to their second album, "Animals They Dream About," getting shitcanned. I'm going to take a wild stab and guess that Romeo Void and Translator signed it...

http://synthysteria.com/units/

by **oneno** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:02 am

Here's a cut from one of the first singles: Warm Moving Bodies I-Night http://s35.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=36D5 ... 073KLHU7CS
and here's one from their last:New Way To Move
More Alike
http://s35.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=275B ... REYWIUT6V5
A stark contrast from electro punk to synthpop

[i]Chuck[/i]

New Wave Outpost Forum

The band known as "units"

The band known as "units"

Who is online