B.P.M. (1991-1994)

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B.P.M. (1991-1994) album cover
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Total Tracks: 18   Total Length: 53:38

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Mike McGonigal

eMusic Contributor

Mike McGonigal is editorial director for YETI publishing and the author of three little music books. He lives in Portland, OR, where he spends his time assembli...more »

04.22.11
Singles, outtakes and extended mixes from the group's Imperial period.
Label: Teenbeat Records / IODA

HarDCore punk was the reigning sound when Mark Robinson and school chum Phil Krauth started Unrest, a group named after a song by terribly unhip '70s prog-rockers Henry Cow. The group was wildly eclectic from the start and, though they dabbled in avant-garde and funk, tended more towards angular, explosive indie-rock. By the early '90s, when Velocity Girl's Bridget Cross joined on bass, the band forged their own deft kind of propulsive, minimalist pop. 1992's Imperial f.f.r.r., originally released on a subsidiary of Caroline, was a nearly perfect distillation of this sound. B.P.M. — which stands not only for beats per minute but the group's personnel during this period — is an essential collection of singles, outtakes and extended mixes from a year or so before and after that record. If only it included "Yes She Is My Skinhead Girl," or their Factory covers single for Sub Pop, it would be its equal.

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B.P.M. (for “Bridget, Phil and Mark,” or — if you prefer — “beats per minute”) closed out Unrest’s career in typically scattershot style, serving up a crazy quilt of classic singles, quirky remixes and unreleased sides. As the subtitle indicates, these 15 tracks cover only the Bridget Cross-era incarnation of the trio, a lineup that yielded the seminal Imperial f.f.r.r. and Perfect Teeth albums as well as a series of superb seven-inches; while the inclusion of hard-to-find tracks like the Miaow cover “When It All Comes Down” and “Bavarian Mods” makes the set essential for fans, it’s a shame B.P.M. wasn’t conceived as a more straightforward singles collection instead — remixes of favorites like “Cath Carroll” and “Imperial” are tedious, while the inclusion of two nearly identical versions of “Winona Ryder” (neither particularly worthwhile) is plain baffling. – Jason Ankeny

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