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January '98
Boabus conceives the idea of starting a band with his housemates on
the
way to the shops one day. After a couple of jam sessions, the
nucleus forms;
Scotsman Boabus on bass, |
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and Northamptonians and Singularity
band mates Floyd
L. Scaramanga and Stedman Cool on guitars. Without a drummer, they cut
their first demo "Cyberpsycho", Floyd L. providing drum beats courtesy of his trusty
Boss DR-
660, with the three of them covering vocals. It came via Stedman but "we
didn't
choose the name. It chose us". However, Floyd L. and Stedman's Singularity
project
took precedence and the Unit lay dormant.
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"..a crumb of humour shaken free from the laughter loaf" |
December '98
Floyd L. and Boabus resurrect the Unit with the next demo "Spider In
The Bath".
Scaramanga had hooked up with classical-trained keyboardist Boz
Pardo, through a
mutual friend in the autumn, and he joined Singularity and then
the Unit not long after.
Cosmic, a buddy and former Potentially Unstable bandmate, rolled back into
town
and into the lead singer's job not long after.
March '99
The Unit do their first gig at a house party, and record the "The
Bruce Lee Of The
90s" CD. Soon after Pardo leaves. "Boz, Boabus and Cosmic never quite saw
eye-
to-eye, and it could have come to blows".
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New Pigs on the chopping block?
Nedwin
Ndekwe-Cheswad
The gen on Northamptons premier bossa-funktry novametal bandelica
Imagine a fusion of now o'clock beats coupled with a 12 bore
semi-automatic riff gun. Pig Unit are standing on the
firing range of truth pumping round after round of sonic lead into the soggy
corpse of contemporary music...
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September '99
Jamaican percussionist Man Wid Mission joins the Unit after hooking
up with Boabus
at work. Floyd L. finds the funk in a big way, and the Unit sound begins to
develop.
"Scatmuncher" and "Jaguar Wong" are just the start. |
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Womb
Born from the combined womb of realistic misery and hysterical cynicism in the
late yardankaties from an inconceivable number
of previously unmixed influences, Bobus, Floyd, Stedman, Benny, Mission and
The Professor make up the rictus face of the Unit. From the swamp noise of
hometown homage Beavers Mountain, through the herbal reunion of Eagle Has Landed,
and onto the psychotic grunt of Are You There, Moriarty and Suck Satans Cock, Pig Unit tread
the crumbling road of creativity with the highly polished boots of inanity. They will be strolling
into your tune free brain with alarming strides soon, so cash in your
sanity chips at the casino of knowledge with the beautifully unreadable
in depth review from resident musinquisitor, Quenny Quen
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February '00
The band get the chance to get some demos played on Warwick Radio and
in the
midst of recording, Cosmic goes AWOL. "He says "I'm just popping out for
some tea
and I'll be back later." We didn't see or hear anything from him for a year
and quarter
after that. A month later, Floyd gets tendonitis through a bizarre bowling
incident and
is unable to play for three months.
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July '00
All attempts to find a singer come to nothing, then Mission turns up
with a work mate,
Canadian Professor Bustyaleep, who'd previously sang and
played bass with punk band Slag 79. "We didn't care if he could sing. He
looked cool and when he said he liked Ren And Stimpy, that was all we needed
to know".
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September '00
Enter "The Voice". Bustyaleep gets down with the hardcore sound, but
the crooning
vocals required for "Yoghurts Of Truth" and "Shatner's
Lounge" don't fit his aggressive style. Former housemate Benny "The Voice"
Toledo returns to Northampton from 18 months working abroad, and starts
filling in, so the band can re-visit the mellow shores again. It doesn't take the band long to realise he's the soulful yin to their raging yang and within days, he becomes a
permanent member.
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February '02
Despite remaining drummerless, the Unit spends 2001 gigging, and release the
"M2J2K1" CD. In the summer, Floyd L. meets Serotone singer/guitarist Dave
Jones at work, and they begin working together. Floyd L. records some of
Jones' solo acoustic songs, does the PA for a Serotone show and eventually
the bands collaborate on several gigs, including the December 29th
extravaganza in the Racehorse, Northampton.
However, musical differences and
personal circumstances prove too much for Serotone and this ends up being
their final gig and they officially split in Feb 2002. A jam session with their drummer quickly strikes the vibe match to the quality candle, and the Fist of Legend becomes of the Unit, providing Skynyrding of the band numbers, and slotting the final penny into the seven armed soundbandit. |
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January '05
Three years on, the Unit has inspected it's shit, and sorted it.
Whilst this stool of time was interspersed with much activity - recording, mixing, the occasional gig, and the ubiquitous solo projects - the Unit itsunit almost faded into nothingnessing.
Benny 'The Voice' Toledo was sensationally, yet sadly, evicted from the Gig Brothers house in a controversial mid season transfer, the truth forever hidden in contemporary cliche. The Unit will more than miss the mirth, girth and occasional lyrical dearth that defined the voice that is 'The Voice'.
The legend that is Fist, of Legend - also sadly - retired from the drum stool, perhaps uncomfortable with the increasing number of Spinal Tap parallels infecting The Unit. Massive respect eternally due.
Finally, Man Wid Mission; never as yet not actually not not fully absent, and always large in the Unit's affections, the future may yet not be not unwritten...
Gargantuan and colossal Unit respect to the departed brothers for all the quality moments.
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However, with Lady Luck's permanent smile of serendipity fixed upon them, the kidnap and subsequent effects of Stockholm Syndrome upon Rocky 'Rock' Rockwell has furnished The Unit with a brand new Viscount of Vocals. Packed with extensive youth and lungs, Rockwell 'Rocky' Rock makes like a tacheon and brings out a new dimension in the musical Unitverse. |
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Fired up by this newsical shockwave, and armed with the gauntlet of challenge, the Unit smote the drum world with a mighty smitey. Only one was brave enough to absorb the smites and insert his hand into the vacant glove...
Gumtree 'from the country' Van Drumtree - monster skins man so good they had to name him six times - has provided the final licking to seal Pig Unit's musical envelope. With a new frontman and drummer in place, the Unit has morphed like a plasticine chod into a six headed new-beast.
Pigunit is back in. Town.
Nice.
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