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Unwound
Origin Tumwater/ Olympia, Washington, USA
Genre(s) Noise rock
Post-hardcore
Years active 1991 – April 2002
Label(s) Kill Rock Stars
Gravity Records
Punk In My Vitamins?/Honeybear
Associated acts Replikants
Long Hind Legs
The Young Ginns
Red Rumsey
Members
Justin Trosper (vocals, guitar)
Vern Rumsey (bass guitar)
Sara Lund (drums/percussion) (1992–2002)
Former members
Brandt Sandeno (drums/percussion) (1991-92)
Notable instrument(s)
Electric guitar, Bass guitar, Drums/percussion, Vocals, Tape loops

Unwound was a U. Tumwater is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. Olympia is the Capital of Washington and is the County seat of Thurston County. Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Noise rock (also known as noise punk) describes one variety of Post-punk Rock music that became prominent in the 1980s Post-hardcore evolved from Hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader Punk rock movement See also 1991 in music (UK Musical groups established in 1991 Record labels This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002 In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Kill Rock Stars is an Independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in Olympia, Washington, United States and Justin Trosper is an American singer guitarist and songwriter Vern Rumsey was the bass player for the band Unwound, he also is a recording engineer who has worked with bands such as Blonde Redhead, KARP, Enemymine S. rock band based in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. Tumwater is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. Olympia is the Capital of Washington and is the County seat of Thurston County. Formed in 1991, the band, originally known as Giant Henry, consisted of Justin Trosper (vocals, guitar, songwriting), Vern Rumsey (bass), and Brandt Sandeno (drums), who was replaced in 1992 by Sara Lund. Justin Trosper is an American singer guitarist and songwriter Vern Rumsey was the bass player for the band Unwound, he also is a recording engineer who has worked with bands such as Blonde Redhead, KARP, Enemymine

Contents

Biography

Unwound released a full demo tape in 1991, and recorded a mini-album in early 1992 (released as Unwound in 1995). Unwound is the first album recorded by Olympia -based indie rock band Unwound. Two songs from the demo tape later appeared on A Single History: 1991–1997; "Bionic" featured suicidal lyrics. In July 1992 Sara Lund replaced her friend Sandeno. The group released several singles and albums, primarily on the Kill Rock Stars label, before disbanding on April 1, 2002, shortly after co-headlining that year's All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Kill Rock Stars is an Independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in Olympia, Washington, United States and All Tomorrow's Parties is a Music festival which takes place in England at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday The fact that they broke up on April Fool's Day fueled speculation that they would, in actuality, remain together; an early band t-shirt had the inscription "Unwound 1991–2091". Unwound's Fake Train was the first full-length musical release on Kill Rock Stars; it had been strictly a spoken-word label until its owner Slim Moon attended an Unwound concert and decided he had to release their upcoming debut (though technically second) album. Fake Train was the first album released on Kill Rock Stars by the Olympia Washington based group Unwound. Slim Moon (b Matthew Moon on October 15, 1967 in Missoula Montana, United States) is the founder of the independent Unwound also had the maiden releases for several other key underground record labels, including Gravity Records and Troubleman Unlimited Records; side project Replikants had the first release on 5 Rue Christine, an esoteric KRS offshoot. 5 Rue Christine (also known as 5RC is a semi-defunct Olympia Washington based Independent record label, formed as a spin off from the Kill Rock Stars Rumsey founded and ran Punk In My Vitamins? Records, releasing material by Lowercase, Yind, the Bangs, Karp, and Chokebore. Chokebore is an American Indie rock band formed in the early 1990s in Honolulu, Hawaii, and subsequently based in Los Angeles, California Trosper published several issues of his own underground rock fanzine in the early 1990s. Unwound and sonic/geographic contemporaries Sleater-Kinney were generally considered KRS's flagship bands of the 1990s; no other band released anywhere near as much material on KRS as these two did. Sleater-Kinney was an American Indie rock band that existed from 1995 to 2006

Musical Style

Unwound's main influences included Sonic Youth, Fugazi, The Wipers, Black Flag, Can, Mission of Burma, Hüsker Dü, Nation of Ulysses, Flipper, and Gang Of Four. Sonic Youth is an American Alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1981 Fugazi are an American alternative / post-hardcore band that formed in Washington D For the town in Belgium which was called 'Wipers' by British soldiers during World War One, see Ypres. Black Flag was a Hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in southern California, largely as the brainchild of Greg Ginn: the guitarist Can was a musical group formed in West Germany in 1968 One of the most important Krautrock groups Can had a style grounded in the Experimental rock of Mission of Burma is an American Post-punk band formed in Boston Massachusetts in 1979 For other uses see Husker Du. Hüsker Dü was an American Alternative rock band formed in Minneapolis-St Nation of Ulysses was a Post-hardcore band from Washington DC Flipper is an influential punk band formed in San Francisco, California in 1979 continuing in often erratic fashion until the mid-1990s then reuniting Gang of Four are an English Post-punk group from Leeds. Original personnel were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Evidence of the Black Flag influence can be seen in Trosper and Sandeno's early band, The Young Ginns (named after Black Flag guitarist/songwriter Greg Ginn), and in their sample of Black Flag's lyric "I'm not a machine" in their song "Machine" (on Replikants' debut album). Trosper was also in a band called Worst Case Scenario. Unwound's early work was characterized by intense vocals, jagged guitar lines, and more complex drumming than the band's peers. Trosper's lyrics were highly existential, cryptic, and generally bleak. From this angular, atonal starting point, the band developed their signature sound over the course of several albums and numerous singles. With 1996's Repetition, Unwound added synthesizers to the mix. Repetition was the fifth album by Unwound (and the fourth released on Kill Rock Stars) Free-jazz style saxophone found its way onto 1998's Challenge For A Civilized Society. Challenge For A Civilized Society was the sixth album by Unwound. The band recorded Peel sessions with John Peel at the BBC in 1998; these were broadcast over the radio, and were released as the semi-official bootleg Unwound - Live in London on (Love Letter). John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004 known professionally as John Peel, was an English Disc jockey, radio This new direction set a precedent that the band would follow for their remaining albums, culminating in the release of 2001's Leaves Turn Inside You, a double album the band recorded themselves over the course of two years. Leaves Turn Inside You is the final studio album from Unwound. Unwound never covered any other artists' songs on their albums, though they did cover songs by The Minutemen and Flower on singles. The Minutemen were an American Punk rock band formed in San Pedro, California in 1980

Unwound Live

The band was known for its nonstop touring of the U. S. and Europe, and occasionally Japan. It shared stages over the years with the likes of the following, with earliest known date in parentheses: Sonic Youth ('95), Polvo ('95), Fugazi ('95), Hovercraft (European tour w/ them, '96), Lowercase, Polar Goldie Cats, Deerhoof ('98), Mogwai ('99), Nirvana, Slug (rock band, not rap group), the Peechees ('98), Clikatat Ikatowi (approx. Polvo is an influential indie Noise rock band of the 1990s from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. Fugazi are an American alternative / post-hardcore band that formed in Washington D Hovercraft was an instrumental Experimental rock group that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993 Deerhoof is a San Francisco musical group currently consisting of Satomi Matsuzaki (usually vocals and bass John Dieterich (usually guitar Ed Rodriguez (usually guitar as Mogwai are a Scottish rock group from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed by Stuart Braithwaite and Dominic Aitchison in 1995 Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen Washington. '94), Chokebore, The Most Secret Method ('99), Yind ('99), Blonde Redhead ('95), Dub Narcotic Sound System, xbxrx (who formed after attending an Unwound concert in Biloxi, MS, in 1998) (2001), Bikini Kill, and many more (members of Unwound and Yind occasionally performed live as "avant-Norge" "supergroup" Shag Bath). Blonde Redhead is an American rock trio comprised of Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace Dub Narcotic Sound System (DNSS is an Olympia Washington based indie - Funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson, signed to XBXRX is an American punk band formed in 1998 in Mobile Alabama. Bikini Kill were an American Punk rock band formed in Olympia Washington in October of 1990. Unwound utilized two additional guitarists during live performances on its final (2001-02) tour.

The band was known for having an all-ages policy at almost every concert which it headlined. This meant that they would often choose to play at unconventional locations such as basements, jaycee halls, and college auditoriums, rather than at the traditional 18+ or 21+ (alcohol-serving) music clubs. They did this because they frequented all-ages shows in Olympia as teens, so they wanted to let fans of any age attend their own gigs.

Equipment

Trosper played several kinds of odd guitars, including Univox Hiflyers (made famous by Kurt Cobain), generally preferring guitars with P-90 pickups. The P-90 is a Single coil Electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson since 1946. He sometimes played a clear Lucite (Plexiglas) guitar, a budget copy of the expensive originals made by Dan Armstrong. Poly(methyl methacrylate ( PMMA) or poly(methyl 2-methylpropenoate is a Thermoplastic and transparent Plastic. Dan Armstrong was an expert Guitar Luthier and recording session musician He sometimes used an Echoplex in the band's spacier ambient passages. Delay is an Audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time Rumsey generally played a Fender Jazz Bass. The Jazz Bass (or J Bass) was the second model of electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender. He and Trosper often used Sunn and Kustom amplifiers, generally solid-state models; Trosper's main amp up to 1999 was a Sunn Concert Lead. Sunn Amplifiers or Sunn Amps for short are a brand of musical Instrument amplifiers History In early 1963 band based in the U Lund played a 1970's Ludwig drum kit. Ludwig-Musser is a Drum and Percussion instrument Manufacturer owned by Conn-Selmer Inc

Side projects

Unwound had two main side projects, each self-styled as highly conceptual and distinct from the parent band.

Trosper and Sandeno, who have collaborated musically since the mid-'80s, helmed an experimental venture called Replikants (not to be confused with the band Replicants, which featured members of Failure and Tool). Early on, they each acted as multi-instrumentalists for the group. Inspired by John Cage, Can, and Miles Davis, they combined jazz, ambient music, tape loops, musique concrete and vocal samples atop a krautrock-propelled base. Ambient music is a Musical genre in which sound is more important than notes Musique concrète ( French; literally "concrete music" is a style of Avant-garde music that relies on recorded sounds including natural Krautrock is a generic name for the Experimental music scene that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s especially in Britain Debut album This Is Our Message (1997) consisted of home recordings from 1994 to 1996 (the CD version contained ten bonus tracks not included on the vinyl version due to time constraints). They were fleshed out to a full band (featuring Joe Plummer of Bare Minimum/ Black Heart Procession on drums), with more of an electro-rock sound, on their second and final album (Slickaphonics, 1999). A tour ensued, beginning that summer; after it, Trosper shelved Replikants to focus his energy on finishing Unwound's next (final) album.

Rumsey and friend Greg Allen recorded as enigmatic New Romantic-styled pop band Long Hind Legs in the 1990s. New Romantic was a short- lived Fashion and music movement that occurred primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland during the very early 1980s Rumsey used the pseudonym "Wolfgang" and Allen used the alias "Paul," with only astute Unwound fans aware of their real identities. Following a slew of singles, their debut self-titled album came out in 1997 on Kill Rock Stars. The 12" EP "Open Wide" (+ remixes)/ "Alphabets Of Unreason" was released simultaneously. Atop peppy, carnival-esque backing music, "Alphabets Of Unreason" features the odd lyrics, "Atoms, boys' cars, dead-end fags/ God, his image, and Jerry's Kids/ Love-making noon orgies/ I want to kill, I want to kill. The term Jerry's Kids also refers to children supported by the disease advocacy group Muscular Dystrophy Association. . . / Pills, quinine reveries. Quinine (ˈkwaɪnaɪn kwɪˈniːn ˈkwiːniːn is a natural white Crystalline Alkaloid having Antipyretic (fever-reducing antimalarial, . . Scornful tramps, unwitting vamps, wasted xenophobes & all the young zeroes/ I want to kill, I want to kill. . . " (note the first letter of each of the main words in the verses, then refer back to the song title). The February 4th - 14th, 1998 EP was released in 1998 on Kill Rock Stars.

Trivia

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

(The band released numerous singles; see some of the provided discographical links for information on them)

External links

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Dictionary

unwound

-verb

  1. Simple past of to unwind.
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