“Strange Unit: A tale where Big Black took the greatest hits album from 90’s baldies Black (Francis) and Corgan (Billy), and physically ate them, creating a case of acid reflux being involuntarily regurgitated into the public domain as a multicolored, textual mess that is rightly disgusting and mesmerising in equal measures.” Mmm, fair summary I spose.  Scott Lee Andrews is all or nothing and when he does his music its never going to conform or come from inside the box that a given. From the opening salvo of ‘Ghandi Warhole’ you just know for the next twenty-five minutes you might need some protection from the sonic assault, some headgear and maybe a gumshield as the feedback howls and the guitar creepy crawls inside your head after you’ve had the initial tap from that snare drum that’s slapping away.  It’s already too late and you should begin to feel your heartbeat quicken as Scott screams it’s like Blare Witch the audio assault. He’s got a ‘sick sense’ we’re in and it’s definitely happening. ‘Chew’ is like an angry slice of Sigue Sigue Sputnik if they had been serious punk rock pioneers and genuinely a bit bonkers. The guitar lick that’s holding this together is viscous and the chorus is taking root inside your head its the soundtrack to what’s going on behind Travis Bickle’s eyes it’s intense but wholely enjoyable.
Go over and turn up the speakers as much as you can for the grinding ‘Learn To Luv It’ ‘Sick Sense’ is tasty as it creepy crawls through the verse only to explode at the chorus it’s like an industrial headfuck with huge guitar riffs filling all available space. I thought for a brief moment ‘victimology’ was going to chill out in a David Bowie sort of way but how wrong was I?  Chalk and cheese it would seem as Scott rants over the albums most full-on track thus far. Oh hang on a minute ‘Tattoo’ is up and it’s like anxiety audio sprinting like a hunted man.  Make no mistake Scott is as punk as fuck – He dances to his own beat and the music that comes out of his head won’t appeal to everyone but it will to some and when it does engage it all makes sense and plays out like a fuckin’ symphony other times its terrifying but you could never accuse him of being boring.  ‘Everything Ends’ would encapsulate all of that in its blistering almost five minutes and then silence… Go for a walk have a lie down in a darkened room then do it all again – go on you’ll enjoy it Let Strange Unit shine a light into your life and fuck you right up.  Don’t be safe be adventurous, be open-minded and saddle up this beast of a record and take it for a ride you never know what you’re going to get and depending on your mood the sounds and songs will change he’s clever like that is Scott.  Bloody show-off!
DIGITAL (ALL LINKS): https://fanlink.to/STRANGEUNIT
Author: Dom Daley