To the Units the guitar was a symbol of safe acceptable rebellion. Mass marketed in bright colours it was the leather jacket of musical instruments, the symbol of uber cool for the anti establishment anti consumerist consumer. So instead they went with synths, which if you think about it, being bigger and wider than guitars, are actually much more phallic. Part of the San Franciscan/ West Coast scene that also spawned the overtly political anti establishment punk rock of the Dead Kennedys with whom they played with on a regular basis, they existed in the underground at the confluence between punk rock, performance art, uni life and the rich and varied alternative lifestyle scene of the late 70’s. They performed alongside propaganda films of their own making, their experimental films often recontextualising found footage, and attempting to break down some of the traditional rock music cliches, eschewing the godlike status afforded the lead singer and attempting to reduce the divide between the performer and audience. Even the name Units taps into consumerist speak, though also draws parallels to a bunch of people unselfconsciously wandering around these days wearing t-shirt’s emblazoned with the word ‘Tool.’
You’d probably call them synth punk, though they were much closer to Devo than Suicide, the confrontation in their critiques, not their sound or stage presence, though they weren’t adverse to relieving themselves of urine on a regular basis. They sang about torturing bugs, about free thought and not viewing the world through the corporate framework which we’re still fed. Most of the material has quite a prominent pop element, quirky and odd, with oscillating synth lines and metronomic percussion. In the late 70’s this music would have been mind numbingly futuristic, confrontational simply due to its artificial nature, or perhaps simply because it’s not guitar bass and drums. Listening to it after the electronic revolution and you’d have to say that this music stands up, sounding at times like everything from The Residents to Trans Am to local Melbourne duo Fabulous Diamonds – which may give some indication of the bands far reaching influence. There’s a balance in the music between songs with the aforementioned incisive critical lyrics and these incredible groove based instrumentals which veer between Wendy Carlos to the soundtrack to the Forbidden Planet. There’s a certain kind of mischievous experimentation here though too, suggesting that synth punk could actually be fun. This collection of 21 tracks comes with 30 odd pages of artwork and an excerpt from their manifesto for the uninitiated. It’s also the first legitimate reissue of the band’s music, which is not just a historical document, because demonstrating how far electronic music hasn’t come, it could’ve easily been made today.
Bob Baker Fish
