The Units’ Digital Stimulation is synthpunk perfection
The Units’ Digital Stimulation is synthpunk perfection
The Units 的《Digital Stimulation》是合成器朋克的巅峰之作
The 1980 record from the San Francisco band is raw, infectious, and shockingly modern. 这张来自旧金山乐队的 1980 年专辑原始、极具感染力，且听起来令人震惊地现代。
The Units are a band I discovered in part thanks to No Dogs in Space. During their miniseries on The Screamers (another incredible band worth checking out), they mention synthpunk.org as one of their sources. And there’s no better way to get my attention than to combine two of my favorite things — punk rock and synthesizers. The site was down that day (it appears to be back up now), but I was able to access a version from July through the Wayback Machine. What greeted me was a bare-bones site with links for six bands, including The Screamers. But at the top was The Units, a band I’d never heard of and, after tracking down their 1980 record Digital Stimulation, I fell in love. The Units 是我通过《No Dogs in Space》播客发现的一支乐队。在他们关于 The Screamers（另一支值得一听的杰出乐队）的系列节目中，他们提到了 synthpunk.org 作为资料来源之一。没有什么比将我最喜欢的两样东西——朋克摇滚和合成器——结合起来更能吸引我的注意力了。那天网站处于宕机状态（现在似乎已经恢复），但我通过 Wayback Machine 访问了七月份的存档版本。映入眼帘的是一个极其简陋的网站，上面列出了六支乐队的链接，其中包括 The Screamers。但排在最顶端的是 The Units，一支我从未听说过的乐队。在找到他们 1980 年的专辑《Digital Stimulation》后，我便彻底爱上了它。
The production, especially on the Devo-esque vocals, feels distinctly of its time. But the sound palette and arrangements are more aggressive, dancier, and generally just more modern-sounding. Ignoring the vocals, album opener “High Pressure” could pass as an MSPAINT song. The title track, with its sped-up disco stomp, could have been released by DFA in 2003. And many of the later tracks would be at home on a Single Frame record. 这张专辑的制作，尤其是那种类似 Devo 的人声，带有鲜明的时代印记。但其音色和编曲更加激进、更具舞曲感，整体听起来也更现代。如果忽略人声，专辑开场曲《High Pressure》完全可以被当作 MSPAINT 的作品。同名主打歌凭借其加速的迪斯科节奏，听起来就像是 DFA 厂牌在 2003 年发行的作品。而专辑后半部分的许多曲目，放在 Single Frame 的唱片里也毫无违和感。
The Units weren’t the first punk band to dabble with synths. Nor were they the first act to largely replace guitars with keyboards and lean into technology as a core theme of their songwriting. The Talking Heads offered a cleaner, artier take on punk, incorporating keyboards, non-Western percussion, and even tape loops. Devo’s first single, “Mongoloid,” has a distinctly punk edge that would have been right at home alongside The Units. But the band still leaned heavily on traditional guitar and bass, and always felt more at home in the art-rock and new wave scenes. The Units 并不是第一支尝试合成器的朋克乐队，也不是第一支用键盘取代吉他并将科技作为创作核心主题的乐队。Talking Heads 对朋克进行了更干净、更具艺术感的诠释，融入了键盘、非西方打击乐甚至磁带循环。Devo 的首支单曲《Mongoloid》带有明显的朋克锋芒，与 The Units 的风格非常契合。但 Devo 依然严重依赖传统的吉他和贝斯，且始终更倾向于艺术摇滚和新浪潮领域。
Husband-and-wife duo Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber, the primary songwriters of The Units, had a sharper edge to their sound. They were firmly grounded in the West Coast punk scene that made its DIY ethos a core part of its identity. Their contemporaries were the Dead Kennedys, The Mutants, and The Avengers. You can hear it in the lean arrangements that prioritize raw energy over perfection. That’s not to say songs like “Cannibals” and “Bugboy” are simplistic. Their bleak, slightly humorous critiques of an uncaring world are models of efficiency — unfussy and infectious. 作为 The Units 的主要词曲作者，夫妻档 Scott Ryser 和 Rachel Webber 的音乐风格更加犀利。他们深深扎根于西海岸朋克圈，该圈子将 DIY 精神视为其身份的核心。与他们同时代的乐队包括 Dead Kennedys、The Mutants 和 The Avengers。你可以从他们精简的编曲中听出这一点，他们将原始能量置于完美之上。这并不是说《Cannibals》和《Bugboy》这类歌曲很简单。他们对冷漠世界的灰暗且略带幽默的批判，堪称高效创作的典范——不拖泥带水，且极具感染力。
Like a lot of Bay Area punk bands, there’s a melodicism to The Units’ work that is hard to shake. “Warm Moving Bodies” feels like a dancefloor anthem waiting to happen, and “High Pressure” is an undeniable earworm. 和许多湾区朋克乐队一样，The Units 的作品中有一种难以忘怀的旋律感。《Warm Moving Bodies》听起来就像是一首蓄势待发的舞池国歌，而《High Pressure》则是一首无可争议的洗脑神曲。
The band did record a second album in 1981, Animals They Dream About, but it remained unreleased until 2016. It’s also an excellent document of the under-represented synthpunk scene of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Though, it is far more polished and leans into poppier new wave arrangements that are a step removed from their bootstrapped punk roots. 乐队确实在 1981 年录制了第二张专辑《Animals They Dream About》，但直到 2016 年才正式发行。这也是记录 70 年代末至 80 年代初被低估的合成器朋克场景的一份绝佳文献。不过，这张专辑的制作要精致得多，更倾向于流行化的新浪潮编曲，与他们最初那种白手起家的朋克根基相比，已经迈出了一步。
The Units’ Digital Stimulation is available on Bandcamp and via streaming on Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Deezer. The Units 的《Digital Stimulation》现已在 Bandcamp 上架，并可通过 Apple Music、YouTube Music 和 Deezer 进行流媒体播放。