Moving Units Dangerous Dreams CD

Indie dance-rock outfit Moving Units' full-length debut, DANGEROUS DREAMS, is so full of nods to early-1980s music that it almost plays like a pop history lesson. The band draws on the rhythmic grooves of A Certain Ratio, the angular guitars of Gang of Four, the British-inflected interjections of the Fall, and the dark melodic sense of Joy Division. The listener can also discern snippets of the Cure ("Between Us and Them"), U2 ("Scars"), '80s commercial Britpop on the order of Duran Duran ("Submission"), and MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD-era Talking Heads (the band's only overt American reference).

But Moving Units synthesize these sources in a credible and catchy way, merging the edge of post-punk with the dance-oriented sensibility of the early-MTV milieu. The record's lead-off track, "Emancipation," marries a disco drumbeat with a burbling bass and wiry rhythmic guitars, not to mention a falsetto vocal tag riding over the top. The spare, chilly "Anyone" recalls any number of synth-heavy '80s club hits, complete with handclap rhythm track. DANGEROUS DREAMS bears up under the weight of its borrowing, however, and packs a wonderfully fun retro punch.

Audio Mixers: Blake Miller; Mickey Petralia.

Recording information: Indigo Ranch Studio, Malibu, CA.Rolling Stone (pp.86-8) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]he trio veers from coy disco rock to minimal art pop and pained post-punk while leaving behind a short string of hooks."
Alternative Press (p.158) - "[I]f Ian Curtis had stuck around for Zoloft and Hot Hot Heat, Joy Division's CLOSER might have sounded a lot like this album." - 4 out of 5
CMJ (p.4) - "Jitter-punk trio Moving Units shake equal parts Wire, Arab On Radar and Ratatat into a slithery post-punk brew..."