Wiki
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Release Date
9 September 2008
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Length
12 tracks
✪ United Nations – United Nations ✪
Scoring a deal with a label is, for the most part, what every band hopes for. A bit of security, financial reward for a hard fought creative endeavor, or simply just a bit of fame and some notoriety – whatever the reason – a record contract can (sometimes) mean the difference between having to work a day job or not. But there are those tricky times when a "record deal" can turn into restrictive "contractual obligations," preventing members from fully expressing themselves outside of their "signed" work or outfit. And when this happens to a side project featuring members from a number of bands, it can make telling their story both confusing and, admittedly, suspicious. If we know they're mucking about with extra-contractual activities, why isn't the label that they're crossing calling them out? There are a myriad of answers to this vexing question, and all of them are probably spot on. This is exactly the situation that grindcore outfit United Nations found themselves in as they released their debut album, United Nations, in 2008. Led by Thursday vocalist Geoff Rickly, United Nations was fleshed out with a number of other players, who, due to the aforementioned obligations, had to remain anonymous and pose for photos wearing identical Ronald Reagan masks. In truth, if the Internet was to be paid any attention to, United Nations membership – supposedly – included Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw, Ben Koller of Converge, Christopher Conger of the Number 12 Looks Like You, Eric Cooper of Made Out of Babies, and Jonah Bayer of Lovekill. This seemingly rotating cast of (what the band themselves describe as) emo-power-violence players would eventually record the United Nations full-length, which ran in to (ahem) copyright problems, as it used the iconic image of the Beatles from their Abbey Road album in reverse, and on fire. In keeping with their nose-thumbing attitude towards the concept of copyrighted art, a follow-up single – Never Mind the Bombings, Here's Your Six Figures – was to follow, mocking the Sex Pistols' first album artwork and title. As far as a new album by United Nations was concerned, (the only) official member Geoff Rickly made claims in late 2008 that enough material was in the can and a follow-up full-length was sure to hit the streets in 2009.
Track Listing
01. The Spinning Heart of the YO YO Lobby (0:57)
02. Resolution #9 (2:30)
03. No Sympathy for a Sinking Ship (2:06)
04. The Shape of Punk That Never Came (2:36)
05. My Cold War (1:49)
06. Model UN (1:08)
07. Filmed In Front of A Live Studio Audience (3:40)
08. Revolutions In Graphic Design (2:04)
09. I Keep Living The Same Day (1:00)
10. Subliminal Testing (2:14)
11. Say Goodbye to General Figment of the USS Imagination (5:10)
12. (Untitled track) (13:00)
Charts & Awards
2008 – Top Heatseekers – Peak 14
2008 – Top Independent Albums – Peak 44
2008 – Top Internet Albums – Peak 273
(Chart information courtesy of Billboard.com © 2006 VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.)
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