Its, like, totally cosmic out here on the internets. Synergy! I just posted about a bunch of SF synth punk and then looking through our myspace bulletins I see that The Units have posted five versions of ‘High Pressure Days’, my favorite song by them. Not for download though, sad. I guess its kind of cool, but I did start to hate that song towards the end.

There’s:

• the 1979 single version, which is rawer and came in a stamped white paper sleeve. No frills! So punk! Its awesome and is my favorite version.
• The 1980 album version which is a cleaner. I like the backing vocals on this one better, and also its the first version I heard and I don’t like ‘changes’.
• weird 1981 remix that doesn’t do much for me.
• A live 1982 version which I kind of hated at first but now I kind of love. The live drums are gone and its definitely a bit more commercial sounding, which is the path this band chose to pursue. Generally its not worth bothering with anything after their first LP, Digital Stimulation, which came out in 1980 — trust me, I have a few less than awesome 12 inches. But this live version works. It survives the loss of drums and the more dancey synth lines that have been thrown in are interesting because they’re not up front and I don’t feel like I’m watching some late night network TV broadcast trying to show me the ‘weird’ new music with bad dancers.
• a 2007 remix that doesn’t do much for me.

Also, poking around I saw found The Units Training Film #1, which I guess they screened at shows and was constantly being edited so it was never ‘finished’. Wow! Like, how did they do that? There wasn’t even iMovie:

Finally, these Units characters have been busy. There’s a reissue/singles comp coming out sometime on www.community-library.net. Ok, enough synthpunk!

Posted in Fan video, reissue, synth punk, the units | No Comments »

Last night was the clap and Davell and the Transistors played, which is this guy’s project. Other than the fact that we love the clap, this caught my eye because it seems that Mr. Dog Swan was in a band called the Long Shoremen which my friend, who also turned me onto The Units, had suggested I check them out as well. I never did because I could only remember that he had recommended two bands and that one was The Units, but when I saw the name in print I instantly remembered. I searched (a little) for some sounds on the internets but came up empty handed but did turn up that they were on subterranean records which I always hear mentioned but more in terms of being a record store of sorts. From the looks of the website, which was last updated in 2002, that may be no more. This led to a little more searching and I turned up this Terminal Boredom and a Trouser Press article which ties the Long Shoremen to Voice Farm which is another eighties SF synth band that egg city radio just posted about.

So there’s a nice bit of reading there for you. Its like we’re in school, which I’m sure is exactly what you’re looking for in this blog! Anyway, Davell and the Transistors was a lot like how the Trouser Press described the Long Shoremen — a poetry damaged art/sound experiment that I think he was channeling via some late night night UHF broadcast which he received via some bunny ear antenna helmet he made late at night in his bedroom. Seriously, although I have no proof that he channeled anything and he certainly wasn’t wearing that helmet (the one he wore was cardboard). I’m not sure that review sounds positive, but it was funny and I liked it.

It was a little slow last night at The Clap, but the audience was full of people in bands; we saw Greg Ashley, Brian Glaze, an ex member of The Time Flys, and Penelope Houston. I don’t know what that means really, except people in bands (and us at World Famous) don’t have to worry about getting up on a Wednesday morning or anywhere to be for the holiday. Um, yeah.

Posted in The Clap, other blogs, subterranean records, synth punk, the long shoremen, the units, voice farm | No Comments »

Best of all time? Myles knows how to set the bar for a new feature. Whatevs, I think this song by myspace of the week alumni The Units is pretty great. Mission is a humorous ode to, you guessed it, the mission: burritos, marijuana, the …um… fashion, and humongous boom boxes. Its the closest thing to a party song on the album, and the chorus makes me smirk every time I hear it “The Mission is bitchin’!/Mission I don’t take no ^%::&++!/Alright!” (note, that’s the band censoring itself). Honestly, the mission hasn’t changed too much in the twenty seven years that have passed from since the release of Digital Stimulation on 415 records.

Posted in Best San Francisco songs of all time, burritos, hairnets, san francisco in the seventies, synth punk, the mission, the units | 1 Comment »