Kill Rock Stars (1993)
So, I've been on a real Unwound kick again ever since the Survival Knife record came out and Numero Group started their reissue series. Despite Numero compiling all of the recorded output of this band into a few handy box sets, the record collector in me was itching to replace some of the old Unwound 7"s that I got rid of for some reason in my mid 20s.
I never had all of the Unwound 7"s as I was really only paying attention to them through The Future Of What back then, but I certainly had a few. Now, I want them all. I picked up a handful of used ones at the Green Noise distro recently, the first of which is Mkultra. The two songs on here really display the extreme sides that Unwound was capable of. "Mkultra" is a long, slow, brooding song. The bass drags through the song, with sludgy guitar and drums coming along for the ride. The vocals are harsh at times, but restrained at others. I don't know that it's my favorite Unwound song, but it's still pretty neat.
B-side "Totality" is the complete opposite end of the Unwound spectrum. Fast, loud, mostly instrumental with some occasional shouting here and there. Again, is it the best Unwound song out there? No, but what a crazy contrast it provides to "MKultra." It's a microcosm of the world Unwound lived in. I loved this stuff when I was in high school, but ended up shelving it for a while. It's nice to be able to go back and be as enthralled by them again as I was back then.
Unwound - "Mkultra":
Really nice. Got to keep my eyes out for that one. Wish I had good distro's out here in San Antonio, TX, I'm buying all online. I don't know how I like the new format for the Green Noise site though it seems harder to find stuff. Looking forward to pick up the Unwound box sets they had up for a good price though.
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