F-Units Profile Page on Nextcat.com

Formed in 2005, F-Units is a modern punk band based in NYC’s Lower East Side featuring New Orleans native Scotty B (vocals/guitar), Tommy Unit (bass), Greg Hoy (drums), and Andy Rapoport (lead guitar). F-Units contrived their name from diesel engine locomotives built by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division in the 1940s and 50s — a metaphor for the band’s sound: hard, fast, loud... fueled by powerpop hooks and raunch-rock riffs slammed together with the driving force of a runaway freight train.

F-Units will release their debut album "Reject on Impact" on September 29, 2006 (on-sale through CDBaby.com, Interpunk.com, and iTunes). This DIY debut features ten blistering pop-influenced punk tracks recorded last year in Brooklyn and mixed by Los Angeles producer Scott Gilman. New York rocker Karen Curious (New Professionals) makes vocal appearances throughout the album as well.

Regarding the release of Reject on Impact F-Units frontman Scotty B states, “Making an album of this caliber by our own accord is an accomplishment, and we feel it’s very solid. All of us have been doing the DIY-thing for so long with other projects that we’ve become quite pro at it. It totally shows on our first record — raw quality edging on mass appeal. We’re pretty stoked about it and know our listeners will be as well.”

Scotty adds, “Punk rock was born out of frustration, and there’s a lot of frustration evident in Reject on Impact as well — on every track actually. New York is a tough place to live and work as a DIY band. I don’t dwell too much on the odds of success — we all came from different scenes. Tom is from Des Moines, Greg from Pittsburgh, Andy from D.C., and I’m from New Orleans. People move to New York because they long for the fast-life and love a challenge. That’s also true for our band.”

The making of Reject on Impact proved no different challenge-wise. After spending 9 hours laying vocal tracks on no sleep, Scotty was mugged at knifepoint leaving their Brooklyn studio while his family evacuated Hurricane Katrina. “For me, that was the point of no return — we were gonna follow through and make the best record possible on our own. All ten tracks are angst-ridden anthems of punk rock bliss. Every time I listen I re-live all the frustration with a smile on my face. We got an amazing punk rock record out of it,” he concludes.

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F-Units self-released debut "Reject On Impact" includes ten hard-hitting tracks encompassing an amazing album from start to finish. While not as aggressive as typical NYC punk outfits, this unique brand of bouncy pogo-pop occupies a space in popular music that has not been tapped into very often -- falling into in a realm that is somewhere between 'punk' and 'hard rock' but fitting comfortably within neither. All of the songs are quite catchy however, complete with lyrical harmonies and superb melodic hooks.

This band isn't shy about who their influences are either. While some tracks recall Dookie-era Green Day and various other Lookout! Records acts, F-Units flex their ‘70’s hard rock and punk heroes such as Sex Pistols, AC/DC, and Kiss. But regardless of how evident these obvious influences might be, F-Units manage to come forth with a style that is completely their own. This attribute shines most on the slow-tempo drive of “Nowhere Fast” and the blistering horn-laden blaster "Hypocrite". Perhaps on future albums they could assert more of themselves in this same manner, but even with the super-polished sound of "Reject On Impact", the band places the entirety of their soul into each and every track with a big league power-pop punch. The excellent radio-friendly production quality shows throughout and lets you know that they mean business. A feat quite impressive for this DIY band at such an early point in their career. Tight, hard-hitting rock ‘n’ roll is what we’re talking about -- the kind of CD that you'd have cranked to 'eleven'. This debut seems like the beginning of much more to come from F-Units.

Available at CDBaby.com, Interpunk.com, and iTunes.