Dangerous Dreams

Moving Units

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 12, 2004)
• Original Release Date: August 19, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Palm Pictures (Audio
• ASIN: B0000A59YS
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #104,490 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist
In New York, it's been convenient and popular to tap into the recycled angst fueling the early '80s revival that's on every iPod and every dance floor. Moving Units' Blake Miller, Johan Boegli (bass) and Chris Hathwell (drums) make music that is solely about the here and now.

Ask Blake Miller, Moving Units' singer/guitarist, which records were in rotation during the making of "Dangerous Dreams", the L.A. trio's roiling debut album, and he won't mention the usual post punk suspects. "Dangerous Dreams has little to do with the latest dance-punk phenomenon and more to do with the restless inner workings of three clumsy musicians who have no choice but to throw their heart and soul into these songs. "The truth of the matter is, what we did at the time was a really honest emotional expression," Miller says of the band's beginnings, "but it just happened to coincide with a sort of musical zeitgeist."

Nearly two tumultuous years in the making at various L.A. studios, the album boasts a tightrope sound whose volatility is both musical and emotional -- a result of either the band's perfectionism or it's unique chemistry. There seems to be no escape, for example, from the drum attack by Hathwell. He hits the kit like his pants are on fire, slicing off shards of spastic dancefloor grooves at will and stopping and starting on a dime with impetuous urgency.

A raggedy crew who car-crashed in L.A.'s indie music scene three years ago, the only thing the trio's backgrounds had in common then was a pent-up fury waiting to be unleashed. Miller grew up lost in Detroit's down-and-dirty suburban wasteland and suddenly found himself in Los Angeles out of step with the city's industry-driven music scene. Mild-mannered and sophisticated, Boegli emigrated to L.A. from D.C. but strangely absent were the typical hardcore roots often associated with the seminal D.C. music scene. Hathwell ventured from band to band in Southern California, eventually bumping into Miller amidst the underemployed underground.

The members finally crossed paths and melded their diverse backgrounds and styles to synthesize the early Moving Units style. Quickly going into the studio, the band recorded their first songs with a raw organic feel that instantly translated to tape.

The alchemy of those sessions was proven when four new tracks became an EP released in early 2003. A steady flow of L.A. gigs established the band as a fan favorite in the All-Ages crowd. They selected the name Moving Units to mock the sales-obsessed record industry they were united in despising, but it is open to a variety of interpretations.

By 2003, America and the rest of the world had taken notice. The band was hand-picked by Damon Albarn to open Blur's North American Tour. Contemporaries Hot Hot Heat invited the band to tour across the US and throughout the UK. Recently, a secret show on the eve of the Coachella festival found Moving Units opening for none other than the Pixies.

In addition to the dreams that haunt Miller, Boegli and Hathwell on their debut album, their waking life seems to point toward a future that will find some of their more idyllic dreams - like musical innovation and success - being realized as well. For now, they're less focused on "moving units", and more devoted to perfecting the sound of their group. "We have a clear idea about the musical territory we want to explore. It has to be raw, and it has to sound like us," Miller says of the band's top priority. "Who knows what that means? But in our heads we hope we know what that seems to mean."

Product Description
Moving Units' hotly anticipated 2004 debut full-length Dangerous Dreams is filled with the tension and hopes associated with the beginning of a musical revolution. Their proto-post-punk sound from 2003's self-titled E.P. invited comparisons to the Rapture and Yeah Yeah Yeahs - the spirit of Dangerous Dreams invokes the wonder and excitement of the first time you heard the Pixies' discordant melodies or the Minutemen's anti-establishment punk aesthetic. Moving Units' unique sound is truly in a class of its own, and their live show has inspired nothing short of fanaticism and wild abandon, described by Nylon magazine as "...a euphorically smutty, joyfully disenfranchised, danceable call to arms."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff, May 6, 2005

By	Andrew Wiseman (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Good CD. "Between Us and Them" is a great song, and I disagree with the reviews that this just copies the other NY dance-punk bands. I think it's a lot better than the Rapture and so on, and it's more catchy and less fake-funky. It's a little repetitive, but I enjoy it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dangerous Dreams - Moving Units, August 1, 2005

By	edcrash (yelloknife, nt canada) - See all my reviews

i guess you could put this band into the retro-rock phase that's taking over right now but i don't want to.
even though, moving units have some of that retro-rock flavor, they also surprise you with their bass lines and songs that could be played in clubs. all in all, after listening to their EP (which is very good as well!) this is a CD that does not disappoint.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE RAPTURE - PART TWO (3.8), October 13, 2004

By	Cary S. Whitt "Tune Junkie" (Columbus,Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Seriously, this is the second coming of the Echoes album from last year. That is not a bad thing at all, because I absolutely loved Echoes. Now the obvious bass lines that have been ripped from previous said album may grate on some, for this listener, its just another slice of heaven.(Cure pun Intended) apart from the usual influences (Gang of Four, Wire, The Cure, New Order) I also hear a bit of The Buggles (the 6th track "Anyone" in particular) You can take that with a grain of salt, but I swear it's there.

Now for some odd reason the great b-side, "X and Y" was left off, but what is on here is worthy indeed. Between Us and them and Available will have you up and dancing in no-time. One difference is while records from the Rapture and Franz Ferdinand push the nerds on the dance floor, the groove is still rock and roll. That's also the case here, the base is defintely more electronic-disco and less art-house indie rock. But don't get me wrong, Dangerous Dreams fits PERFECTLY next to Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture, Ladytron, The Faint and the like. Fans of those bands need to add The Moving Units if they haven't already.