The Moving Units - Dangerous Dreams

I remember the first time I heard the Moving Units. It was shortly after they released their first self-titled EP, from early 2004, and it really hooked me. The combination of dancy, post-punk and new wave was a winner. And though it wasn't the most original thing going on, the Moving Units were set to become one of the kings of this recently revived craze. Or so I thought... When you've got Gang of Four and Wire as influences, there's a definite sound that's bound to be emanating from your records, and the Moving Units are a prime example of this. Taking the angular guitar work of the aforementioned bands and creating a busy, grooving bassline is a good formula, but the faux-British vocals can be a turn-off, creating an image of the band as pretentious art-school kids, which I can neither confirm or deny. My main problem with the record is seen only with the juxtaposition of the EP and Dangerous Dreams. What happened to progress? Where's the maturity? The debut had four outstanding, entirely ass-shakeable tracks, and while this record too is exactly that, twelve songs is an overabundance. The creative basslines are all that really stick out, and even those get old eventually. I use this adjective so much in my reviews, so I won't use it again. But here's a clue: it starts with a "B" and ends with "oring." There's so little variety when it seems like three such obviously talented musicians could have made something that was a step or two up from their last creation, but I regret to say it's not so apparent on Dangerous Dreams. [www.movingunits.net]