“An uninspired music scene” was the chief force which drove the genesis of L.A.’s Moving Units, according to their record label bio. This motivation might strike some as ironic, seeing how the band’s sound unabashedly draws on the work of their predecessors from the world of ’80s dance/rock; in the world of Moving Units, influence apparently breeds inspiration. Like those who came before, omnipresent synths, driving beats, and user-friendly melodies are the band’s calling card. On their best work (tracks like “Crash ‘n’ Burn Victims”, “The Kids from Orange County”, and “Wrong Again”), Moving Units distinguish themselves from a flood of similarly influenced contemporaries by foregoing attempts to re-contextualize elements of the synth-rock sound for a modern audience. Instead, the band goes an extra step to give those songs a ring of authenticity, sounding like the real deal; whether that’s imitation or ingenuity, the songs are catchy and likely to move the feet of more than one listener. Occasionally, the band falls into some Strokes-ian constructs which are not their strong suit and dent the aesthetic they work so hard to convey elsewhere.
Moving Units: Hexes for Exes
Moving Units
Metropolis
2007-10-09