at a glance...

Hometown: Olympia, WA
Year Formed: circa 1991

Olympia Washington's Unwound are one of the most important rock bands of the last 10 years. While the public's fascination with electronic gadgetry and pop-art, re-hash sampling are at a current high, Unwound remains a strong statement for rock, punk or whatever you wanna call a guitar, a bass and a drum kit. And Challenge For A Civilized Society, their latest record for Kill Rock Stars, is a good example of why.

Unwound's music is intelligent without being pretentious - abstract and experimental while weaving in more classic elements of noisy rock. Seeing them live may involve a 20-minute noise section, or short riff-oriented "songs." Either way, Unwound is able to take their influences and translate them into their own rock language. Sure, you may think "Sonic Youth" during noisy sections, or think of Pete Townsend when Jutin Trosper windmills his arm in rythmic perfection with the drums. But they have taken these influences, jumbled them up, and put their own inventiveness on top.

On the album's opening track, "Data," Justin Trosper sings, "Generations information paralyzed by movie lies. No solution to the pollution. Useless data bores the masses." But, while Unwound do make their thoughts on celluloid mainstream culture apparent, they also create songs that are more introspective and poetic like, "Side Effects of Being Tired" and "What Went Wrong." What makes them important is simply their ability to take their thoughts and weave them into epic, emotionally moving songs that are never syrupy or contrite.

If you like Unwound, check out:
Blonde Redhead In An Expression of the Inexpressible
Sonic Youth Confusion is Sex
Unwound Repetition
Bugskull Phantasies and Senseitions
Polvo Shapes

-- Jason Dearen