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History of the Units - 2009

by UNITS - Scott Ryser

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Includes 32 page booklet pdf of the UNITS TRAINING MANUAL that was included with the original CD.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

1.
2.
1,2,3,4! I see a lot of people lined up in formation Waiting for lively moments that come to them like victims Rows and rows and rows of vampire eyes This is a generation of cannibals (Chorus) Lines & lines & lines & lines of people Rows & rows of people feasting on a rare man's life Lines and line of people, waiting for a victim This is a generation of cannibals (Chorus) People out there lying, waiting to be discovered People out there lying, hoping to be discovered Rows & rows of graves waiting to be uncovered This is a generation of cannibals, Hoping some rare man's blood is going to give them life Hoping some rare man's blood is going to give them life Hoping some rare man's blood is going to give them life This is a generation of cannibals
3.
Bug Boy 02:13
His father was a lawyer Mother a psychologist He was just a boy who liked to torture bugs When they'd go out to work He'd go out to play With pockets full of weapons Bugs you'd better stay out of my way He'd say There's no love, no understanding I just torture the bugs It's survival of the fittest And torture for the winner He liked to get in garbage cans And capture little bugs And burn them with a magnifying glass After he pulled off their wings His father did not think it right To pick upon helpless things And his mother did not understand How he could be so unfeeling He'd say There's no love, no understanding I just torture the bugs It's survival of the fittest And torture for the winner
4.
Bird River 01:15
5.
Saw Johnny tonight, but we didn't say hello to each other We're all moving pretty fast these days bumping round like bumper cars Slippery kelp in the tide It's awful hard to hang on to each other Flying around hot H2O molecules Balls that come in contact often alter their direction High pressure days, high pressure high pressure days, high pressure! Our paths still cross in these high pressure days, A crowd pattern will emerge Exchange phone numbers, wither away High pressure days, finding that our motions High pressure nights, fit into a pattern
6.
iNight 04:16
When the sun goes down And leaves this unit all alone I stand up to face him Because i'm tired of this lie life When no one hears my shoes And no one sees my face I feel just like a fast fog That goes dancing past the street light When the sun goes down And leaves this unit all alone I stand up to face him Because i'm tired of his lie life Surrounded by smells Surrounded by sounds I feel life on my skin Like a fog that's on a street light So quietly i yell It's my time now... Invisible man What i want to be The crest of a wave Escaping the sea A dot of the fog Evaporating The part of the wind That lives in the night I-night
7.
8.
9.
10.
Tight Fit 04:01
11.
East West 2 04:14
12.
Out of six million sperm cells I came in first and won a warm moving body a warm moving body, a warm moving body I came in first and won a warm moving body... We are the ones, the ones that got the bodies We are the ones, the ones that got the bodies The warm...moving...bodies... I get to see hear touch taste smell my partner Attracted by the odor I respond to the stimulus A gene machine surrounded by a cell wall Protective shell of similar units We are the ones The ones that got the bodies We are the ones The ones that got the bodies The warm...moving...bodies... Skyscraper cells, full of water A portion of matter, structure and substance Scientifically different than the monkey... Turn back the hand of time with a youthful chin line Turn back the hand of time with a youthful chin line On our warm...moving...bodies... Look sharp feel sharp be sharp see sharp Head to foot and cellar to attic Lovely hair deserves fine care There's a five o'clock shadow Beneath skin level We are the ones The ones that got the bodies An anonymous sperm bank donation Stepping in a roll of propagation Versatile hands and a well-developed larynx A nose that blows Tongue that licks Now lets Turn off the sentences And turn on the senses On our warm...moving...bodies...
13.
Go 02:11
My dad yells, I gotta leave Get into my car, I drive hard Outside, it's a real nice blur But inside, I'm just sitting here I want to be a blur, I wanna be GO! I wanna be go, I want to be a blur I wanna be GO! Like the blood in my veins I drive around the same old lanes With windows up at a hundred & ten I feel my sigh upon my head I've never held a girl As long as this wheel One two oh It seems so still I punch it to the floor I hit the tape machine I open up the windows And listen to the scream Now no more time, no more space just energy...until I stop some place I WANNA BE A BLUR, I WANNA BE GO! Let's GO! GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO....GO!
14.
Red 04:54
15.
Run 03:43
I know this guy named Jack The expert on what’s good and bad Though he doesn’t do anything but give his opinion You have to respect the fact That Jack is cool and cool people know best That Jack is cool and cool people know best Chorus: Run Jack Run Run Jack Run Can he keep up with the pace Run Jack Run Jack knows the difference between good and bad He says that bad is when your stomach is full Says “it’s a fine line” And he knows all lines All the lines, All the lines Chorus Jack thinks he makes you or breaks you He thinks he creates a scene But all he does is talk about The things he wants to be, he wants to be Chorus
16.
Low riders Blue shoes Shooting pool I've got some news for you Chorus: The mission is bitchin'! The mission is bitchin'! Mission High don’t take no shit Alright! Lights in the wheel wells I've got my hair net on Come on girls, let's cut English And go cruising down Delores (chorus) I like a big burrito With a lot of hot salsa And a big Pepsi-cola And some good marijuana (Chorus) I spent all my money On a portable radio It measures 3 feet by 4 Have to tilt it sideways Just to get it through the door (Chorus)
17.
From up on a hill I see the big ones go to work And the little ones go to school Holding boxes I walk around the streets And listen to what they’re saying Trying to think Of what’s missing I put a scar on my face I gave myself a physical change Now everyone knows What I stand for Chorus: (x3) Were there straight lines Were there straight lines Was it such a straight line Before man came around
18.
Zombo 06:43
19.
Roger liked to watch her with a telescope And follow her around with a tape recorder He put the information in the firm's computer Comparative analysis, he thought he knew her I need to know her, I need to know her. He pulled out his digital calculator And figured out a formula on how he could make her Bill Wyman's T.V. course for data technicians Planned his future around a woman and children Roger finally met her on an elevator And put his plan to work for a movie and dinner But afterwards he realized there's no gratification Without digital stimulation
20.
I-5 04:14
21.
Work 02:23
I've been working for years I can barely afford to buy some beers Working can feel so good!(x3) I'm gonna find me some work where my boss don't get rich off me(x3) I'm gonna find me some work, help out the community(x3) Working can feel so good
22.

about

Limited amount of vinyl still available at: communitylibrary.bandcamp.com/album/history-of-the-units-the-early-years-1977-1983

Original Press Release:
Community Library is proud to bring you the first ever legitimate reissue of San Francisco’s synth-punk legends, UNITS! You can finally get rid of the crappy bootlegs: this is the definitive remastered collection of the band’s most sought-after early singles and selections from their first LP, Digital Stimulation. It also includes unreleased material culled from early demos, recordings made for art happenings and film, and more. This anthology is a view not only into the Units’ seminal years, but is also a step into the rich and under-reissued history of San Francisco’s punk, new wave and post punk years.
The end of the 1970’s saw Units and their compatriots (Pink Section, Voice Farm, Tuxedomoon, and Screamers) storming punk clubs like the Mabuhay with a new electronic punk sound. The co-opted, predictable guitar rock of the era had given way to aggressive synthesizers, film collage, and punk DIY ingenuity. Units were a cornerstone of this unofficial movement, later called “synth punk” and which would come to define a greater west coast DIY culture combining new synthetic sounds, ranging from Nervous Gender, Screamers and Monitor, to The Blackouts. Units’ tight keyboard riffing, raw electronic texture, monotone delivery, raging synth arpeggios and growling Moog basslines practically define synthpunk’s futuristic, alienated disposition. Thematically, Units’ music explored and exploded the very nature of “unit-like” conformity- perhaps using their synth blasts to tear away the very fabric of it. This compilation includes “High Pressure Days,” a testament to the loneliness and urgency of the times, and one of synthpunk’s greatest anthems.
Like other bands of their era, Units’ musical language did not end with the three chords of punk or the drama of new wave. Many of the songs here clairvoyantly anticipate the rise of underground pulse driven electronic dance music (“Cannibals,” “Warm Moving Bodies”). Others feature complex arrangements, almost embodying an epic prog-rock ethic (“I-5,” “Tight Fit.”) Unlike Suicide and DEVO–their contemporaries from the east coast–San Francisco’s Units are overwhelmingly Californian in their sound and ideas – whether it’s a satire of drag-racing car culture (“Go”) or a celebration of SF’s Mission district (“The Mission is Bitchin”). The demos and film soundtracks included here further highlight the band’s significant influence from experimental synthesizer music from a community that bore Buchla synths and Chris Burden’s performance art at the height of the 60’s, ten years earlier. Even Californian heavy guitar/hair rockers Trakstod Station get an ironic nod in the rare Units cover of “Contemporary Emotions.”
We hope you enjoy this anthology, the results of over three years of negotiation, selection, and remastering.

credits

released June 15, 2009

All songs © Scott Ryser
℗ LET S GO MUSIC (c/o Scott Ryser) @ BMI

We had a lot of people in our band over this span of time. I won't go into who did what on every song, but as Wiki says "Primary members were Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber. Other various members that played live shows, toured and recorded with The Units included Bill Nelson, Brad Saunders, Tim Ennis, Ron Lantz, Richard Driskell, Lx Rudis, Seth Miller, Jon Parker, David Allen Jr., Jabari Allen, Marc Henry, James Reynolds, Raymond Froehlich and D.C. Carter. The PDF that comes with the download lets you know who played what.

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UNITS - Scott Ryser Brooklyn, New York

Scott Ryser and his partner & wife, Rachel Webber, were the principal, songwriters, synth players, singers and filmmakers for the UNITS. The UNITS were one of America’s first electronic new wave bands and have been cited along with The Screamers and Suicide as pioneers of the music genre “synthpunk”. Scott & Rachel moved from SF to NYC in 1984 where Scott continues to make music & film ... more

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