United Nations - the band rumored to feature members of Thursday, Glassjaw, Converge, and The Number Twelve Looks Like You - have run into problems surrounding the artwork to their debut full-length, in addition to problems with record contracts and parties involved. Vocalist Geoff Rickly - the only official member - spoke to MTV in regards to the issue:
We've gotten some cease-and-desists. We worked [on the cover art] with this British anarchist artist named James Cauty, and he did all this great stuff. But it had some copyright issues, and that's why all the distributors and stores refuse to carry it. We have 1,000 copies of this album sitting around with artwork that has been banned and we're trying to figure out what to do with those.
Rickly further commented on the dynamics of the band and their motivation:
To me, it's like we're living in 1984 again, and there's no Dead Kennedys. To me, it was like, maybe speaking sincerely about things isn't enough to make people pay attention. Maybe you have to make fun of people — and be a mirror — to show them how stupid they look, to get their attention. That's the idea. Punk is just way too safe these days, so we're hoping by making some audacious claims and doing some strange things and breaking a few laws, we can get people to think at least. It's the idea that you need to embrace the absurdity or it will fucking kill you. The world doesn't make sense, and trying to make sense of it is a fool's errand.
There has been so much great, really aggressive music in the last couple of years, whereas around 2003, I was wondering if heavy music was dying on itselfEverything became so predictable and formulaic, and in the last couple of years, bands like Young Widows, Ceremony and Cursed have come along, and they've been electric and awesome. This is basically us trying to kick that [heaviness and attitude] back into gear and remind bands that if they do anything safe, it just sucks.
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