From The Verge · Terrence O'Brien · · 1m 30s
The Units made synthpunk before it had a name
A 1980 San Francisco record found through a broken website still sounds like it came out last year.
In brief
A 1980 San Francisco record found through a broken website still sounds like it came out last year. Digital Stimulation is the rare 1980 punk record that swapped guitars for synths without losing the raw energy, and it still sounds current. Originally reported by The Verge.
Found through a dead link
A podcast miniseries on The Screamers name-dropped synthpunk.org as a source. The site was down, so the Wayback Machine did the honours.
“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.”
Six bands, one name
The archived page was bare bones: links to six bands. At the top sat The Units, and their 1980 album Digital Stimulation.
Dated vocals, modern everything else
The Devo-ish vocal production pins it to 1980. The arrangements do not. Opener "High Pressure" could pass for an MSPAINT track today.
“Ignoring the vocals, album opener "High Pressure" could pass as an MSPAINT song.”
Three decades early
The title track's sped-up disco stomp sounds like a DFA release from 2003. Later tracks would sit comfortably on a Single Frame record.
Not the first, but sharper
Talking Heads did a cleaner, artier punk with keyboards and tape loops. Devo had the edge but kept guitar and bass front and centre.
Punk roots, keyboard body
Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber wrote from inside the West Coast DIY scene, alongside the Dead Kennedys and The Avengers. Lean arrangements, energy over polish.
“Their bleak, slightly humorous critiques of an uncaring world are models of efficiency.”
The sequel sat for 35 years
A second album, Animals They Dream About, was recorded in 1981 and shelved until 2016. It is more polished, poppier, and further from the punk roots.
At a glance
Digital Stimulation is the rare 1980 punk record that swapped guitars for synths without losing the raw energy, and it still sounds current.
