I’ve written about the infamous Unband here a couple of times (notably here and here), so won’t bother entirely re-hashing all that, but suffice to say, once upon a time these three friends-of-friends of mine collectively comprised one entertaining little combo of combustable rock fury.
While ostensibly from Northhampton, Mass, the Unband pursued their rock dream first in Los Angeles — frequently soiling the bedding at my friend Rob’s stepmother’s bungalow in Costa Mesa — before attempting same here in NYC. They were a regular fixture in many an East Village watering hole, I was lucky enough to frequently witness them perform live at a few select venues, notably Brownie’s and The Continental, playing alongside a coterie of similarly inclined bands like The Candy Snatchers, Nashville Pussy, the Pleasure Fuckers and the Upper Crust. It was kind of a glorious time.
`Twas at the Continental that I snapped the photo below, one of my favorite shots of the entirely photogenic combo. I rediscovered this photo this past weekend whilst rummaging around my front hall closet, looking for Cop Shoot Cop ephemera for the upcoming book on same I’m working on. In any case, this photo more or less captures the essence of the band.
Despite some comparatively high profile gigs opening for Dio, Def Leppard and Motorhead, the big time never beckoned, and the band broke up, having recorded only two records, the major label Retarder on TVT and their shambolic debut, Chung Wayne Lo Mein on Moon Pig Records (hear a track off the latter here).
No idea what these boys are up to now. The Continental is still there, although they no longer feature live music.
I never saw it, but evidently the Unband even had their own rockumentary….
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