- UNIT (1998)
When I first heard this group of Aussie pranksters' name, I immediately thought
death metal. Actually, bad death metal...the kind of stuff where guys growl and
spit and the guitars chug chug, but they don't really sound evil, just
well...silly. Upon further consideration, their name really sums up what they're
all about. If you're Aussie, then you're probably familiar with their antics and
know that they are pretty much a love 'em or hate 'em kind of ensemble, and one
which "regurgitates" all their past and present obsessions of pop culture in all
its forms. I've always loved satire or "joke" bands such as the Dead Milkmen or
Mojo Nixon, or even the surreal early humour of the Butthole Surfers, so I
immediately took a liking to this album. Bad taste really isn't nothing new in
rock and roll, but I really believe that the trick is to produce bad taste
effectively...and then let the prudes judge your work as such. The Brisbane
based "gurge", as their followers call them, have t
he ability to switch styles very effectively, and "Unit" is a pulsating mass of
funk, punk, synth pop and hip hop.
You would immediately assume that a combination of so many styles would lead to
experimentation, and you'd be partly right. But for all of the album's flash and
schitzo anarchy, the band do have the pop smarts to hold everything together.
This might explain why the band did get the airplay that they did, as well as an
enormous home following with this album. Too much experimentation I think would
alienate the audience, as only a few twisted individuals would really understand
what the band was up to. "I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff"
summons the new wave ghosts of the Cars or Gary Numan, but immediately shifts
gears into the thrashy tempo of "Everyday Formula", a song which JJJ (Oz's
national alternative radio station) totally played to death in 1998. Lead singer
Quan's voice has the ability to change its pitch and appears very deep and
menacing as his sings "everyday I talk to my machines" on this track. I don't
believe the voice changes are due to any talen
t on his part, as there is much studio manipulation going on in the background
here.
Prince used to do this pitch change thing with his voice, and "*! (the song
formerly known as)" is Regurgitator's homage or diss of the "purple one",
depending on your opinion. With its 80s style synths and identical simulation of
Prince's gloss funk "Sign Of The Times"-era voice, the song manages to be more
Prince than Prince. "Black Bugs", a song about a video game obsessed freak, is a
straight ahead guitar number and is pretty hilarious with Quan singing "what's
at the end...what's at the end..tell me is this the end?". "The World Of Sleaze"
is where the bad taste kicks in and plunges the album into cynical hilarity. The
sing/ song chorus of "dicks and cunts and sluts and butts" was a definite call
for the "parental advisory" warning, but the song is so catchy that you can't
help but sing along. "I Will Lick Your Arsehole" is a kind of stab at rap, and a
pretty good one, although I don't understand how the AllMusicGuide can classify
these guys as rap/rock...this is hardly
Limp Bizkit territory...it's far more subtle and well...sick. Fred Durst has
nothing on my man Quan.
"Modern Life" is another straight ahead rocker and exposes the band's critique
of a disposable, consumerist culture. Good stuff that one. "Fuck Wal Mart"
would've been a better title, although they don't have Wal Mart in
Australia...or do they? And you want a love song? How about "Polyester Girl"?
This track is actually
a love song sung to a blow up doll. Aww...it really melts the heart doesn't it?
(or the plastic). So to close the album, the band ends with a Beatles like
number called "Just Another Everyday Story" which is totally amazing. No cynical
parody here (unless the vocals are a dig at Oasis), just glorious pop. So if you
dig your rock and roll smart and clever and diverse and are not a prude, I
suggest you find this album. It was certainly the most clever music Oz had to
offer in 1998, and a perfect antitdode to dumbass American humour, which usually
is about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
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