Brand New Unit, commonly known as BNU, was a Canadian Hardcore punk band from suburban Vancouver, British Columbia.
Lineup Gary Lavallee, vocals Jinx Stringer, guitar Ben Hughes, bass Garnet Kulhavy, drums; llater replaced by Gabe Mantle of Gob)
History The band formed in 1991 in Surrey, British Columbia,"Brand New Unit is "Totally into it"" by Matthew Gourlie, The Carillon, January 29, 1998. University of Regina (Archived at the Wayback Machine) and started out playing locally and in Vancouver."Brand New Unit". AllMusic Biography by Linda Seida
In 1992, they were winners of CITR-FM's 1982 SHiNDiG live performance contest, which awarded them some studio time.SHiNDiG Past results - 1992 (Archived at the Wayback Machine) They used it to record their first EP, Summertime. Influences of 7 Seconds and Dag Nasty 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."Brand New Unit Diddley Squat Creative Man Looking Back Again BYO". Ink19, February 9, 1998. Ryan Eckhart
In 1998, the band released the album Diddly Squat through the Creative Man label."New Releases : Dishwalla's followup album rates A-, offering songs that get lots of airplay". Los Angeles Times, July 30, 1998|Bill Locey In 1999, they released a split EP with Kill Sadie, and were included in a VML Records compilation album with The Pist, Supernova 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.Mark PaulHus. "Brand New Unit", Discorder Magazine, May 2012, review of Feb 19 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.
Discography Albums Under The Big Top (1994), Excursion Records Looking Back Again (1997), BYO Records Diddley Squat (1998), Creative Man DiscEPs''' 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