Unwound
Leaves Turn Inside You
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Unwound
Leaves Turn Inside You
Kill Rock Stars, 2001
RiYL: Sonic Youth, Slint, Fugazi, Blonde Redhead |
"We Invent You," "October All Over," and "One Lick Less" hark back to psychedelic, early Pink Floyd-ish music, "Demons Sing Love Songs" and "Radio Gra" borrow from ethereal pop music, but are propelled by Sara Lund's human rhythm machine. "Off This Century," plus Lund's obsessive beat, is reminescent of grandiloquent progressive rock songs. The tribute to the 1960s is only apparent, though. "December" enhances the idea with raga and power chords, while "Treachery" retains some of the old virulence, although remade as a hypnotic exorcism. The upbeat and catchy "Scarlette" nods to the repetition, rather than the noise, of Sonic Youth.
"Terminus is the real treat," a 10-minute, 3-part minimalist concerto that occasionally achieves a baroque grandeur, driven by steps of vaudeville and bluegrass and imbued with the lightness of 1960's easy listening music. The equally lengthy "Below The Salt" indulges less effectively in the pace of Dark Side Of The Moon-period Pink Floyd.
This album is to Unwound what Daydream Nation was to Sonic Youth: the application of wild imagination and ruthless harmonies to a more mainstream format, while largely dispensing with their heritage and experiments. Certainly not a sell-out (their music has never been so complex and experimental), but a formidable revision of their mission in life and art.
PIERO SCARUFFI | Piero Scaruffi runs the exhaustive music database Scaruffi.com. A native of Italy, he has also been praised for his work on the General Theory of Relativity, formal theories of the mind, and artificial intelligence. And no, we aren't making that up.