OK, first things first. There seems to be disagreement as to the actual name of this early 80s trio from Toronto. Are they United States, or United State, or United Stats, or United Stat (with “stat” likely pronounced “state”)? The consensus on Canadian music websites appears to be be United State. But their one and only album, 1982s Bedazuld, lists them as “United States” on the spine, jacket reverse, B side record label, and the merch sheet insert (which itself includes a picture of a band shirt reading “United States”. Some copies also came with a band photo and a press sheet, both of which also use “United States”. The only place where it’s different on Bedazuld is the lyirc sheet which uses “United Stats”, but it’s also worth noting that all the song titles on insert are spelled phonetically and don’t match how they appear on the jacket reverse or label. For example, “Secrets” is written as “Sekrets” while “Automaton” appears as “Otomaton”. Their 1984 7″ for “Automaton”, however, uses the name United State multiple times on the release. So your guess is as good as mine. I tried reaching out to one of the former members, but as of the time of this post I haven’t heard back – but I’ll update if I learn more.
The band originated as Blank Generation in 1980, pivoting to United States (or State… or Stat… or Stats…) at the end of 1981. Their promo sheet indicates “the influences of the band come from Public Image Limited for its newness, Wagner for its intensity and melodic aspects, and the Moody Blues for the vocal harmonies,” which is quite the combination. I definitely get some PiL, but I’m not sure about the Wagner part. The melodies are there, but the vocals feel mixed a bit low, so while that gives them a haunting quality it’s a bit smeared and indistinct at times. “Automaton” and “Skeleton Dance” are high points, in large part because of Ruth Taylor’s vocals (lead on “Automaton” and harmony in “Skeleton Dance”). The apex is “1 False Move”, which finds Taylor back on the mic and the track diving into death rock waters, moody, driving, angst-ridden, incessant.
Bedazuld was only released on vinyl, and done so via the band’s own Victory Records. It’s a hard one to track down – it has only sold twice on Discogs since 2020, both sales commanding prices over $100. I don’t think you can stream it anywhere either, so this YouTube video below might be as close as you’re going to get to hearing them.