Review Summary: Even with it's flaws, Unwound's self-titled album is a worthy listen
Before Unwound made their colossal 75-minute epic
Leaves Turn Inside You, Unwound were just a couple of college-age kids playing ferocious music at their friend's house for fun. In 1992, only a few years after they first formed, Justin Trosper (Guitar), Vern Rumsey (Bass), and Brandt Sandeno (Drums) recorded their self-titled debut. However, just when they started to mix and master the record, Brandt quit, which caused Justin and Vern to leave the project on hiatus so they could look for a new drummer. They eventually recruited Sara Lund as the new drummer and, after recording and releasing three other albums, finished mastering
Unwound and released it in 1995.
Unwound is hands down the band's most punk oriented record, and also their shortest, clocking in at 28 minutes. The instrumentation on this record is much more simplistic compared to their later releases, Brandt's drumming has more of a "wham-bam-thank you, man" style compared to Sara's tightly constructed drumming and Vern's bass lines basically just follow Justin's guitar. However, the simplicity does not ruin the music at all.
If there is one thing the album does right, then it would be the fun factor. Listening to this record is a breeze, and you get a real kick out of it. Tracks like "Rising Blood" and "Understand & Forget" are way to hard to skip over, and there are even somewhat somber moments on the album with songs such as "Fingertips" and "Stuck in the Middle of Nowhere Again". Unfortunately, there are some real duds on the LP, like the wail-of-noise "Kandy Korn Rituals", or some of the more forgettable tracks such as "Warmth" and "You Bite My Tongue" . However,
Unwound still ends up being a rewarding listen, even with its flaws. The band would slowly, but surely, mature with every album they put out, but I would still recommend this to anyone looking for some enjoyable post-hardcore.
