Brand New Unit, commonly known as BNU, was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

band from suburban

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia. Its members were Gary Lavallee (vocals), Jinx Stringer (guitar), Ben Hughes (bass), and Garnet Kulhavy (drums). Kulhavy would later be replaced by Gob drummer

Gabe Mantle Gabriel "Gabe" Mantle (born October 25, 1975) is a Canadian drummer, mostly known as the drummer of the pop punk group Gob.(October 26, 2000). "Music: Gob", ''The Vancouver Sun'', p. C17. He has also been a part of a Vancouver hardcore band Bra ...

History

The band formed in 1991 in Surrey, B.C. and started out playing locally and in Vancouver. In 1992 they were winners of

CITR-FM CiTR-FM, is a Canadian FM radio station based out of the University of British Columbia's Student Union Building in the University Endowment Lands, just west of the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia. Its transmitter is also located on ...

's 1982 SHiNDiG live performance contest, which awarded them some studio time. They used it to record their first EP, ''Summertime''. Influences of 7 Seconds and

Dag Nasty Dag Nasty is an American punk rockGreenwald, p. 14. "Ian Mackaye was such a huge Rites of Spring fan that he not only recorded what was to be the band's only album in 1985 and served as a roadie for them while on tour, but his own new band, E ...

can be heard on ''Summertime'' with Kulhavy, while later recordings feature a more post-hardcore feel with hard-hitting live elements. In 1993, they were included on ''Crank It Up - Volume 11'', part of ''Thrasher Magazines Skate Rock series. In 1994, they released their first album, ''Under The Big Top''. Brand New Unit toured constantly and expanded their following into the US market. In 1995, they released three EPs and, by 1997, had enough material to release a compilation album, ''Looking Back Again''. In 1998 the band released the album ''Diddly Squat'' through the Creative Man label. In 1999, they released a split EP with

Kill Sadie Kill Sadie (also Killsadie) was a Minneapolis-based post-hardcore band active from 1997 to 2001. The band adopted the DIY ethic of constant touring, rather than other forms of promotion. Several members of the band went on to perform with better ...

, and were included in a VML Records compilation album with The Pist,

Supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

and The Gain. They released one more EP in 1999 and broke up in 2000. In February, 2010, Brand New Unit played a reunion show in Vancouver. They continued to play occasionally, last appearing in Victoria in 2018. In October 2021, Gary Lavallee passed away; his cause of death was not released. In November 2021, Garnet Kulhavy died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Discography

Albums * ''Under The Big Top'' (1994), Excursion Records * ''Looking Back Again'' (1997), BYO Records * ''Diddley Squat'' (1998), Creative Man Disc EPs * ''Summertime'' 7" (1992), 3 Minute Mile Records * ''All For Nothing'' 7" (1995), HeartFirst Records * ''Quickdraw Richy Rich'' (1995), HeartFirst Records * ''No Heroes'' (1995), HeartFirst Records * ''Kill Sadie + Brand New Unit'' Split 7" (1999), Modern Radio Record Label * ''Empty Useless Air'' (1999), Burning Heart Records

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 Musical groups from Vancouver Canadian hardcore punk groups Straight edge groups BYO Records artists 1991 establishments in British Columbia 2000 disestablishments in British Columbia