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Emeritus
Reviews 19
Approval 87%
Soundoffs 16
Album Ratings 2760
Objectivity 75%
Last Active 12-24-22 6:15 am
Joined 12-24-22
Review Comments 2,459
| The Future of What? [RANKED]
3rd favorite Unwound. Is it better than NPI? No, but I probably listen to it more. Decided to rank it since it’s probably the least talked about Unwound I feel, and it shouldn't be. Love the brevity of the songwriting and the punkier leanings, plus it’s a really smooth listen since the two interludes do just enough to segment the album and give the listener time to breathe. Shout-out the 20 seconds of drone to end the deluxe edition; I’m not ranking it tho. Drop your rankings in the comments if you want, and if not rec me some g-funk I need to educate myself | | 1 |  | Unwound
The Future of What
6. Pardon My French
I like this one less
interlude/5 | | 2 | | Unwound
The Future of What
10. Vern's Answer to the Masses
I like this one more
interlude/5 | | 3 | | Unwound
The Future of What
8. Accidents on Purpose
If there is any complaint to make about The Future of What it is that the middle lags a bit. There is a clear descent in quality culminating in “Pardon My French”, only for “Descension” to ironically pick things back up. But then we get “Accidents on Purpose”, a song that lacks much of any identity. Vern’s bassline contrasts quite nicely against Trosper’s guitar in the verses, but the chorus is pretty flat and frankly it could have been cut quite painlessly from the final album. Nothing offensive, but nothing said either.
2.5/5 | | 4 | | Unwound
The Future of What
5. Equally Stupid
First half descension continues, this time with the sardonic and bitter “Equally Stupid”. While the weakest of the early stretch of punk songs, it at least has Unwound’s trademark “person in the corner of the party who thinks they’re better than everyone despite talking to no one” energy. Plus it's very fun to sing along to.
3.5/5 | | 5 | | Unwound
The Future of What
4. Re-Enact the Crime
Habitual self-loathing and self-doubt or habitual bad behavior? Either way, “Re-Enact the Crime” strikes at the heart of modern misanthropes everywhere. Nothing much more to say, other than that Justin and Sara perfectly complement each other throughout.
4/5 | | 6 | | Unwound
The Future of What
3. Natural Disasters
What a chorus! Trosper’s playing is just completely gut-wrenching. One of the first Unwound songs I got into, and the euphoric high of that chorus melody still destroys me. We’re well into the great songs now.
4/5 | | 7 | | Unwound
The Future of What
9. Petals Like Bricks
One of Unwound’s tensest songs, the bridge completely sucks the air from a song that is wholly ferocious and riveting throughout and it's such a good musical contrast, ugh.
4.5/5 | | 8 | | Unwound
The Future of What
7. Descension 4.5/5
Ah, the first ‘D’ song. The Future of What is blessed with three ‘D’ songs and they all rule, “Descension” just rules a little less. Still, it has everything you want in an Unwound song: every member is doing something interesting yet no one is stealing the spotlight, the tension between languid verses and energetic choruses remains thick throughout, and it’s all coated in a welcoming, nihilistic sheen.
4.5/5 | | 9 | | Unwound
The Future of What
11. Here Come the Dogs 4.5/5
That bass tone is FILTHY. Everything about this song just goes to the nth degree; from the snappy, punky riff to its tireless momentum, “Here Come the Dogs” was an instant favorite on first listen and stands out every relisten.
4.5/5 | | 10 | | Unwound
The Future of What
2. Demolished
Ugh another bassline mention. Very few Unwound songs are jaunty but “Demolished” nearly gets there, with as much cheer and joy as you could expect from the trio. If I’m ever showing someone Unwound for the first time, this is usually a go-to song.
4.5/5 | | 11 | | Unwound
The Future of What
1. New Energy 5/5
Is this the best Unwound opener? Its only competition is “Message Received” imo, and still I’d probably take “New Energy”. The bassline is one of Vern’s best, Justin’s guitar is at its most fun, and Sara’s drumming outlines the spine of this mammoth opener. A righteous, riotous ruckus to kick off the ride.
5/5 | | 12 | | Unwound
The Future of What
12. Disappoint 5/5
The final ‘D’ song, and wow, what a song. Perhaps one of the darkest moments in an already dreary discography, “Disappoint” is a patient, brutal listen. Everything builds and builds into the silence of the post-chorus lurch, and ugh, it breaks my heart every time. More than anyone else this is Sara Lund’s song; her drumming carries every second. Amazing song.
5/5 | | 13 | | Unwound
The Future of What
13. Swan 5/5
I FUCKING LOVE SWAN! IT’S SO GODDAMN GOOD FUCK.
Top 5 Unwound for me, the perfect finale for The Future of What? and completely monolithic.
5/5 | |
FowlKrietzsche
07.26.24 | The Future of Hwat? | SomeCallMeTim
07.26.24 | Agreed on Swan easily being the best here, killer outro track. How dare you put Natural Disasters not in the top 5 tho
I'm also a big sucker for Re-Enact The Crime. Not one of their more interesting tracks instrumentally speaking, but the lyrics are great to sing along to and the melody and harmonics just hooks you in | Mort.
07.26.24 | probably the Unwound lp i know the least. not sure if i can remember how any of these songs sound | SomeCallMeTim
07.26.24 | it's a very underdiscussed Unwound LP for sure, which is wild since it's just as good as many of their others and has some absolute bangarz | FowlKrietzsche
07.26.24 | Ugh it hurt to rank honestly, Natural Disasters is still great don't get me wrong, this album is just so damn consistent
I think it's easy to lose this album since it lacks some of the bombast of NPI and the pleb bait of Repetition, but yeah, it makes sense the band was firing on all cylinders in between and these songs rule and I like talking about them | JohnnyoftheWell
07.26.24 | Petals Like Bricks is 1 and Here Comes the Dogs is maybe a bit overrated, but otherwise yes yes good shit, bang on
New Energy and the D trio tear it up, feel that Demolished > Descension is maybe a hot take (though one I agree with)
Swan took me a while to warm up on, but there's just no arguing with that many acres of scorched earth. Underrated album generally, probs narrowly beats Repetition and Fake Train to the #3 slot for me | YoYoMancuso
07.26.24 | Dragnalus is def my fav Unwound opener | SomeCallMeTim
07.26.24 | "the pleb bait of Repetition"
ouch | FowlKrietzsche
07.26.24 | meant super traditional v/c/v rock stuff, Repetition is awesome | BMDrummer
07.26.24 | re-enact the crime is an all-timer | kildare
07.27.24 | This stuff is a really different kind of hardcore/post-hardcore/punk-derivative
Would it be totally ignorant of me to say that, although this stuff sounds totally authentic, it is still apparent that Nirvana and Korn and Marilyn Manson were all the rage when they were producing their work? I mean, I would never call this Nu-Metal or Grunge or Industrial, but it still has an...inexpressible flavor to it, a flavor that was born around the time of Unwound's first album. Just curious | FowlKrietzsche
07.27.24 | Unwound are very 90s coded, I think that's totally fair. Def hear more Nirvana in their music than those artists though | kildare
07.27.24 | Whew! Ok, good. There are moments on this record that remind me strongly of Cobain's wailing in the second track of In Utero, and I didn't want to look like an ignoramus saying so | Demon of the Fall
07.27.24 | Nirvana? Eww 🤢 don’t ruin this band for me…
anyway… great band, great album. Some good comments | kildare
07.27.24 | "don’t ruin this band for me": I get it! Sorry to piss in the stew! | JohnnyoftheWell
07.27.24 | Unwound and In Utero has always been a natural parallel to me (p sure I got into In Utero off the back of my peak Unwound phase having shrugged off the first two Nirvana records in previous years)
but yeah Unwound has all the consumerist ennui/revulsion/mild nihilism that most of the best 90s guitar music was in some form of dialogue with | Ryus
07.27.24 | definitely top tier unwound. probably 3rd favorite | kildare
07.29.24 | "Unwound and In Utero has always been a natural parallel to me":
If someone started blowing smoke up my ass I could easily get a balloon-sized head about my 1980 - 1995 era music knowledge. but this site has for years made me frustratingly aware of how much music I missed starting around 1994.
Willie is the worst, though. I routinely prop myself up as an authority on Industrial, and then I read some his stuff and he starts listing band after band that I missed starting in the mid-90's. I comfort myself that it is not true ignorance, though, just non-awareness.
At least with streaming I can (sort of) catch up
| SmashIsTheWay94
07.29.24 | Move Petals Like Bricks and Accidents on Purpose up a few spots and this is pretty close to my ranking
Always thought tracks 3-5 was a kind of weak stretch by this band's standards, but everything else rips as usual. New Energy might be their best opener |
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