I heard about this band not long after I moved to San Francisco, but they were a band that had existed WAY in the past, an entirely different era. I moved to SF in 1995, so that distant past was really just a handful of years (which of course seemed like an eternity at the time). UNIT PRIDE dropped a demo in '87 that deserves to be placed on the same shelf as countless more revered contemporaries - the thing is rough, but I'll take "Wide Awake" over half of YOUTH OF TODAY's output, and the energy here is just right. But then they recorded an EP the following year, and that thing bangs! No qualifiers, no "well, it's pretty good considering they were from San Ramon and not somewhere cool" bullshit, that six song piece of wax is deadly. The hesitation from the drums is gone, the tones are honed, the pace never lets up (except for the breakdowns - this is a straight edge band, after all), and "Wide Awake" sounds even better than it did the year before. Members of UNIT PRIDE would later play in more famous Bay Area bands REDEMPTION '87, SCREW 32, and NERVE AGENTS, and the internet tells me the guitarist moved to Toronto and played in WOUND UP and PINK EYE (good bands, records readily available in the cheap bins).
Today's link has the '87 demo, 11 tracks of rough and intent hardcore, and a plainly packaged cassette from 1988, which seems to be the same recording session as the band's sole vinyl release - six tracks here, and "All In The Head" sets the shit off right by letting you know that these kids upped their game from the demo. Maybe there are many bands like this in many pockets of the world...but monkeys keep listening to the same shit over and over instead of searching for the gems. UNIT PRIDE is one of 'em.
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