Unwound

Perhaps the most musically abrasive group in the world of indie rock, Unwound specialize in a dense collection of crushing power chords rising to feedback, melding the noise of Sonic Youth's more raucous passages with a rare energetic flair which rivals even that of Fugazi. Formed in 1991 in a small town close to the indie rock nerve center of Olympia, Washington, Unwound was originally a trio of vocalist/guitarist Justin Trosper, bassist Vern Rumsey, and drummer Brandt Sandeno. The band released two singles for Kill Rock Stars and one for Gravity Records before recording an album in early 1992. Sandeno left the group in July -- stalling release of the self-titled album until it appeared in 1995 on Unwound's own label, Punk in My Vitamins? -- and was replaced by Sara Lund, a native of Bloomington, Indiana and a former member of Witchypoo and the Belgian Waffles. Unwound's first released album was Fake Train, issued in mid-1993 on Kill Rock Stars. On the band's three subsequent albums, recorded one per year from 1994 to 1996, Unwound rarely diverged from a biting attack on melody and song structure, abandoning most elements of musicality except for a brilliant use of harmony in Trosper's lines of feedback. 1998's Challenge for a Civilized Society continued their extremist traditions, and Leaves Turn Inside You followed in spring 2001.

from Wikipedia:

Unwound was a United States post-hardcore band based in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. Formed in 1991, the band consisted of Justin Trosper (vocals, guitar, songwriting), Vern Rumsey (bass), and Brandt Sandeno (drums), all of whom had previously been in a band called Giant Henry. Brandt Sandeno quit Unwound in 1992 and was replaced by Sara Lund. This line-up would remain in place until the band's dissolution in 2002. The group was strongly associated with the label Kill Rock Stars throughout the 1990s. Unwound was sharply dissonant and angular, often resorting to unusual guitar tones, and associated with post-hardcore and noise rock. The band toured frequently, preferring "all ages" clubs. The group spawned numerous side projects.

Biography

Unwound released a full demo tape in 1991, and recorded a mini-album in early 1992 (released as Unwound in 1995). Two songs from the demo tape later appeared on A Single History: 1991–1997. In July 1992 Sara Lund replaced her friend Sandeno. The band makes an appearance in the 1994 cult roadmovie Half-cocked. The group released several singles and albums, primarily on the Kill Rock Stars label, before disbanding on April 1, 2002, shortly after co-headlining that year's All Tomorrow's Parties festival. The fact that they broke up on April Fool's Day fueled speculation that they would, in actuality, remain together; an early band t-shirt had the inscription "Unwound 1991–2091". Unwound's Fake Train was the first full-length musical release on Kill Rock Stars; it had been strictly a spoken-word label until its owner Slim Moon attended an Unwound concert and decided he had to release their upcoming debut (though technically second) album. Unwound also had the maiden releases for several other key underground record labels, including Gravity Records and Troubleman Unlimited Records; side project Replikants had the first release on 5 Rue Christine, an esoteric KRS offshoot. Rumsey founded and ran Punk In My Vitamins? Records, releasing material by Lowercase, Yind, the Bangs, Karp, Thrones, Dub Narcotic Sound System and Chokebore. Trosper published several issues of his own underground rock fanzine in the early 1990s. Unwound and sonic/geographic contemporaries Sleater-Kinney were generally considered KRS's flagship bands of the 1990s; no other band released anywhere near as much material on KRS as these two did.

Troubleman Unlimited's Mike Simonett after hearing of the band's breakup posted a quick eulogy to Unwound on his record label's Web site: "Unwound were (and still are) beautiful people. Unwound was one of the most influential and vital bands of the '90s, and their last record was a masterpiece. You just don't know it yet. Unwound's influence will live on for a long time to come, and they were everything a band should be: independent and non-compromising in every aspect."

Musical style

Unwound's influences included Sonic Youth, Fugazi, The Wipers, Black Flag, Can, Mission of Burma, Hüsker Dü, Nation of Ulysses, Flipper, and Gang of Four. Evidence of the Black Flag influence can be seen in Trosper and Sandeno's side band, The Young Ginns (named after Black Flag guitarist/songwriter Greg Ginn), and in their sample of Black Flag's lyric "I'm not a machine" in their song "Machine" (on Replikants' debut album). Trosper was also in a band called Worst Case Scenario. Unwound's early work was characterized by intense vocals, jagged guitar lines, and more complex drumming than the band's peers. Trosper's lyrics were highly existential, cryptic, and generally bleak. From this angular, atonal starting point, the band developed their signature sound over the course of several albums and numerous singles. With 1996's Repetition, Unwound added synthesizers to the mix. Free-jazz style saxophone found its way onto 1998's Challenge For A Civilized Society. The band recorded Peel sessions with John Peel at the BBC in 1998; these were broadcast over the radio, and were released as the semi-official bootleg Unwound - Live in London (on Love Letter). This new direction set a precedent that the band would follow for their remaining albums, culminating in the release of 2001's Leaves Turn Inside You, a double album the band recorded themselves over the course of two years. Unwound never covered any other artists' songs on their albums, though they did cover "Plight" by The Minutemen and Torch Song by the (pre Versus) band Flower on singles.

Unwound Live

The band was known for its nonstop touring of the U.S. and Europe, and occasionally Japan. It shared stages over the years with the likes of the following, with earliest known date in parentheses: Sonic Youth ('95), Polvo ('95), Fugazi ('95), Hovercraft (European tour w/ them, '96), Lowercase, Polar Goldie Cats, Deerhoof ('98), Mogwai ('99), Slug (rock band, not rapper), the Peechees ('98), Clikatat Ikatowi (approx. '94), Chokebore, The Most Secret Method ('99), Yind ('99), Blonde Redhead ('95), Dub Narcotic Sound System, xbxrx (who formed after attending an Unwound concert in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1998) (2001), Bikini Kill, and many more (members of Unwound and Yind occasionally performed live as "avant-Norge" "supergroup" Shag Bath). During their final (2001–02) tour, Unwound enlisted David Scott Stone as an additional guitarist and original drummer Brandt Sandeno on keyboards, percussion and guitar.

The band was known for having an all-ages policy at almost every concert which it headlined. This meant that they would often choose to play at unconventional locations such as basements, jaycee halls, and college auditoriums, rather than at the traditional 18+ or 21+ (alcohol-serving) music clubs. They did this because they frequented all-ages shows in Olympia as teens, so they wanted to let fans of any age attend their own gigs.

Equipment

Trosper played several kinds of odd guitars, including Univox Hiflyers (made famous by Kurt Cobain), generally preferring guitars with P-90 pickups. He sometimes played a clear Lucite (Plexiglas) guitar, a budget copy of the expensive originals made by Dan Armstrong. He sometimes used an Echoplex in the band's spacier ambient passages. Rumsey generally played a Fender Jazz Bass. He and Trosper often used Sunn and Kustom amplifiers, generally solid-state models; Trosper's main amp up to 1999 was a Sunn Concert Lead. Lund played a 1970's Ludwig drum kit.

Side projects

Members of Unwound participated in a number of projects that ran concurrent to Unwound, each self-styled as highly conceptual and distinct from the parent band.

Trosper and Sandeno, who have collaborated musically since the mid-'80s, helmed an experimental venture called Replikants (not to be confused with the band Replicants, which featured members of Failure and Tool). Early on, they each acted as multi-instrumentalists for the group. Inspired by John Cage, Can, and Miles Davis, they combined jazz, ambient music, tape loops, musique concrète and vocal samples atop a krautrock-propelled base. Debut album This Is Our Message (1997) consisted of home recordings from 1994 to 1996 (the CD version contained ten bonus tracks not included on the vinyl version due to time constraints). They were fleshed out to a full band (featuring Joe Plummer of Bare Minimum/ Black Heart Procession on drums), with more of an electro-rock sound, on their second and final album (Slickaphonics, 1999). A tour ensued, beginning that summer; after it, Trosper shelved Replikants to focus his energy on finishing Unwound's next (final) album.

Rumsey and friend Greg Allen recorded as enigmatic New Romantic-styled pop band Long Hind Legs in the 1990s. Rumsey used the pseudonym "Wolfgang" and Allen used the alias "Paul", with only astute Unwound fans aware of their real identities. Following a slew of singles, their debut self-titled album came out in 1997 on Kill Rock Stars. The 12" EP "Open Wide" (+ remixes)/ "Alphabets Of Unreason" was released simultaneously. Atop peppy, carnival-esque backing music, "Alphabets Of Unreason" features the odd lyrics, "Atoms, boys' cars, dead-end fags/ God, his image, and Jerry's Kids/ Love-making noon orgies/ I want to kill, I want to kill.../ Pills, quinine reveries... Scornful tramps, unwitting vamps, wasted xenophobes & all the young zeroes/ I want to kill, I want to kill..." (note the first letter of each of the main words in the verses, then refer back to the song title). The February 4–14, 1998 EP was released in 1998 on Kill Rock Stars.

Trosper and Sandeno also played together in two other bands, the Young Ginns, and Worst Case Scenario. The Young Ginns also featured Tim Green of The Nation Of Ulysses on guitar (Justin played bass). The project was first conceived in 1991 when Brandt and Justin were stuck at Tim's house while on tour with Unwound. The band later became a reality when Green moved to Olympia. They released a 7" on Gravity Records in 1993. In 1998, all their recordings were compiled and released on CD by Honey Bear Records. After the Young Ginns, Sandeno and Trosper formed Worst Case Scenario. Worst Case Scenario released two 7"s, one on Troubleman Unlimited and the other on Lookout! Records, and an album on Vermiform Records. Vermiform would release the group's entire discography on CD in 1997. Both the Young Ginns and Worst Case Scenario displayed a hardcore punk sound.

Justin Trosper also performed in Severed Lethargy (with members of Bikini Kill) and Sara Lund and Vern Rumsey performed with the musical collective Witchypoo. Rumsey also played bass on Blonde Redhead's "Fake Can Just Be As Good" album. In 2010, Lund became drummer of The Corin Tucker Band, on which she works along the former Sleater-Kinney vocalist and guitarist, as well as with the Golden Bears' Seth Lorinczi.

Influence

Unwound have been cited as an influence by many contemporary underground artists, including most notably Blonde Redhead, Mineral, xbxrx, Cave In and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

Artwork

Fake Train's cover art is simply a defiled copy of a Tom Jones LP cover which had been hanging over Trosper's doorway. The cover and inner artwork of The Future of What are illustrations by Russian constructivist artist Yakov Chernikhov (1889–1951). A photo of Boston's stained-glass Mapparium adorns the cover of Challenge For A Civilized Society. Coincidentally, a similar photo of the Mapparium appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine a month after Challenge was released.

LP versions of Unwound's albums generally came with elaborate additional artwork/lyric sheets that the CD versions lack.