I have been an enthusiastic Unwound fanboy for just over three years. Having spent that long lamenting the obscurity in which they languish, I feel honour-bound to grant them the exposure they deserve.
Unwound formed as a trio in 1991, with their core line-up consisting of a vocalist/guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. Compensating for their lack of personnel by making a fuck-tonne of noise, Unwound began their career channeling the vim and vigour of post- hardcore and combining it with abrasively
dissonant passages. As the band progressed, though, so too did their leanings towards the avant-garde. 1998’s Challenge For a Civilized Society, for example, features free-jazz oriented saxophone solos that double as a substitute for industrial-grade paint stripper.
All these aspects culminated in their opus, Leaves Turn Inside You. A disorientating swirl of an album, it begins with two minutes of a droning noise that sounds much like a frequency test and touches on post-rock, dream-pop and hardcore as it progresses.
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By this stage, Unwound had almost entirely lost the furious front of their earlier work. Though they still evidence bitter vitriol on occasion, they mostly sound apathetic; too jaded and burnt out to care very much about life’s disappointments and injustices. Hence the title of the closing track: ‘Who Cares?’.
The title is a sardonic reference, too, to the utter lack of critical or commercial acclaim Unwound had received throughout their existence. That they split up disillusioned and is unfortunate; that they still have yet to achieve the recognition they’re due is fucking tragic. As lame as it is to answer their rhetorical question; I care, and if you immerse yourself in their dizzying musical world then you might too. And remember, YouTube is your friend.