Talk about a burst of energy.
Jinx, the guitarist for Brand New Unit, telephoned from the band's home base in Vancouver, Canada, and spoke with the same aggressiveness in his voice that is in the band's music."We didn't start off wanting to sell a bunch of CDs or getting signed on a major (record) label," said the man who goes by the name Jinx. "And to tell you the truth, getting the CDs into a store for distribution has proved to be hardest part of this whole thing."
Brand New Unit - which also includes bassist Ben, vocalist Gary and drummer Gabe - will play the Tower Theater on Tuesday, June 10. Doors open at 7 p.m. Link 80 will also play.
"The way we are getting ourselves noticed is our constant touring," Jinx said. "When people see us live, they usually go buy our CD. And vice-versa. When people hear our CD they usually stop in at a gig."
Brand New Unit plays a stripped-down version of live punk. The band's new album, "Diddley Squat," has managed to somewhat capture the band's live energy. "That's what we were basically going for. We wanted to get our aggressiveness."
Jinx said the rawness came from Gabe's direction. "When he joined the band in 1994, he gave us a kick in the pants. He was in a lot of bands early on, while us three were playing in a basement.
"During the recording of `Diddley Squat,' Gabe told us to take off the Led Zeppelin shoes and put on our own. He said `We're making a punk album, not a rock album.' "
Jinx, Ben and Gary have been hanging together since junior high school. During high school, the trio produced a lot of punk shows and brought some Seattle bands to Vancouver.
"We really didn't think we had the talent to play our own shows," said Jinx. "But after a while, we thought, `Why not?' "
After recording a load of four-track demos, Brand New Unit began seeing younger faces at the shows.
"Before, it used to be mainly friends and family who came to the gigs," he said. "So that was cool. Now, we find all sorts of people."