Moving Units

Los Angeles post-punk revivalists Moving Units originated when Blake Miller on vocals, Johan Bogeli on bass, and Chris Hathwell on drums—all previously active in the hardcore outfit Festival of Dead Deer—established the new project after that earlier band dissolved in 2001. Victor Velasquez joined on guitar as the trio began composing material and performing locally. Early festival appearances, including a slot at This Ain't No Picnic, generated significant notice well ahead of any recorded output. The group then aligned with Three One G, the label formerly associated with Festival of Dead Deer, for the fall 2002 release of their self-titled debut EP; shortly afterward they shifted to Palm Pictures, which reissued the EP in early 2003. Their first full-length album, Dangerous Dreams, arrived in fall 2004 and highlighted a dance-rock approach comparable to that of the Rapture or the Faint. Subsequent high-profile support tours alongside Blur and Nine Inch Nails preceded the darker 2007 follow-up Hexes for Exes, which incorporated additional shades of Interpol and the Bravery. Four years later the band issued the self-released Tension War EP. In 2012 Miller departed yet retained the Moving Units name, recruiting Danny DeLeon on drums and Mike Delgado on bass for the 2013 album Neurotic Exotic. That record infused the group's disco-punk foundation with new electronic textures, evident on the lead single "The World Is Ours," a development tied to Miller's intervening work as a DJ. The band resurfaced in 2016 with Damage with Care.