Every aspiring group dreams of landing a record contract, whether for the stability it provides, compensation after years of creative struggle, or the visibility and recognition that might follow. Yet such agreements sometimes impose binding restrictions that limit what musicians can pursue beyond their primary commitments. Complications multiply when the participants belong to several different groups, turning any attempt to recount their activities into a tangled and questionable narrative. Observers naturally wonder why the parties holding the contracts fail to intervene when these extra projects surface, though numerous plausible explanations exist. Grindcore act United Nations confronted precisely this predicament upon issuing their self-titled debut in 2008. Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly guided the effort, which drew in additional contributors forced by their own contractual ties to stay unnamed and to appear in promotional images wearing matching Ronald Reagan masks. Online speculation nevertheless identified the lineup as encompassing 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. The shifting roster of performers, whom the band characterized as emo-power-violence musicians, completed the full-length only to encounter copyright complications arising from its reversed and flaming appropriation of the Beatles’ iconic Abbey Road cover imagery. Continuing the pattern of irreverence toward protected artistic property, the group next released the single “Never Mind the Bombings, Here’s Your Six Figures,” which directly referenced the Sex Pistols’ debut artwork and title. Speaking in late 2008, the sole officially acknowledged member, Geoff Rickly, stated that sufficient recordings already existed to ensure a second album would reach stores the following year.
