by Abel Horwitz
Daily Lobo
Albuquerque audience members are some of the lucky ones as talented independent bands like Unit 7 Drain are allowed to grow and evolve.
Unit 7 Drain strives for originality.
Lead singer/guitarist Harry Redus-Brown said that the band "is mostly about suppressed aggression, agitation, dissatisfaction and a sort of general disaffected feeling of most people who are intelligent enough to perceive what's going on around them."
Recently Unit 7 Drain released its second album The Suicide Couple and is consistently playing gigs around town.
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The sound of Unit 7 Drain has been described by some as The Cure on speed, though the band hates labels like that.
The keyboard-heavy tunes on The Suicide Couple are very melodic and have a fast, happy beat. The lyrics, while dark, are surrounded by a sort of melancholy pop that is nice to just sit down and relax to.
The Suicide Couple is full of this sound and is an excellent listen. The major buzz kill of the album is the hidden track -- a dark, and almost scary experiment of different sounds with a haunting voice over.
Basically, if you like the album, skip the hidden track and after the first few listens, venture into it later.
The Suicide Couple is a very good collection of songs. It's easily digestible and quickly becomes a fun listen.
The songs are fast and hip but give the raw quality of being an underground release. The album doesn't sound like something in constant rotation on the radio, but would be excellent live.
According to Redus-Brown, if you like the CD, you'll enjoy the live show even more.
"We put on the best rock show of any band in Albuquerque," Redus-Brown said. "We break all of our equipment and move around the stage a lot. [We] try to be engaging and engage the audience."
As far as independent music goes, bands like Unit 7 Drain are prime examples of what can be done without the pressures of MTV -- when it's all about the love of music and not about the fame, quality music is created.
If pop music is a war, bands like Unit 7 Drain are the secret weapons.
