The Units’ Digital Stimulation is synthpunk perfection

Key Points:

• The Units, a synthpunk band discovered through synthpunk.org and the No Dogs in Space miniseries on The Screamers, blend punk rock energy with synthesizer-driven music, creating a distinctive sound ahead of their time.
• Their 1980 record Digital Stimulation features aggressive, danceable arrangements with Devo-esque vocals, combining raw punk ethos with modern electronic elements that predate later dance-punk acts.
• Unlike contemporaries like Talking Heads and Devo, The Units replaced traditional guitar and bass with keyboards and embraced a sharper, DIY West Coast punk style, aligning them with bands like Dead Kennedys and The Avengers.
• The band’s songwriting duo, Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber, crafted efficient, bleakly humorous critiques of society, producing memorable tracks like “High Pressure” and “Warm Moving Bodies” that balance melodicism with punk intensity.
• Their second album, Animals They Dream About, recorded in 1981 but unreleased until 2016, showcases a more polished, poppier new wave sound while still representing the underappreciated late ‘70s and early ‘80s synthpunk scene.