Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You
(Kill Rock Stars)
Unwound, Olympia, Washington's second most famous grunge band, made six
albums (if you include their ho-hum-fill-the-gap self-titled singles
collection) in the first six years of their existence. So their decision
to wait almost three long lonely years between releasing Challenge for a
Civilized Society and their new one, Leaves Turn Inside You, naturally has
prompted some controversy and whispering amongst their fans. What were we
supposed to think? I thought they were dead and gone. I thought maybe
they'd been crushed to death when the new punk rock rolled over in its
sleep. Or something.
Anyway, like most of the people that I happened to overhear discussing the
situation, I was certain that a new album after such a long wait could
never be the same good old Unwound. But even though Unwound's decade
spanning career sticks them right in the dangerous (for the band's "rep")
and potentially boring (for us) muck of R'n'R middle age, biologically
they're still just kids, and it turns out they're not quite ready to throw
away their cheap guitars and Sunn amps and become Mogwai.
The band's approach on this album is intelligent--they show that they've
expanded their musical vocabulary without ever hinting that they'd like to
abandon what they already know. The 2 CD format gives them plenty of
time to play with new sounds while also allowing the inclusion of a very
satisfactory number of straight ahead angsty "punk" tracks not unlike what
you remember from New Plastic Ideas and Repetition. Almost all of the
songs are based on the band's characteristic three piece guitar/bass/drums
arrangements, and the ingredients that seem less familiar (multiple layers
of vocals, ample use of effects, electronics, synths, strings and other
instruments) tend to be decorations layered on top of the tried and true
structure, and rarely function as the basis for entire songs.
While most of the songs do tend to rely primarily on Unwound's distinctive
arrangements, bass driven riffs and choppy, angular progressions, the new
stuff doesn't exactly hide in the corner either. Many times the extra
layers of sound add a new and worthwhile dimension to the
music. But the album's weakness is that the liberal, unrestrained
sprinkling of these "experimental" elements sometimes seems to approach
superfluity. I can almost picture the band panicking thirty seconds
before the end of a song, realizing they've completely forgotten to throw
in any interesting "bleeps" or "bloops" to liven things up, and then
relaxing again when they decide that 30 seconds gives them JUST enough
time for an inexplicable out-of-the-blue string arrangement. There are
also loads of only semi-related synth intros and outros, at least one of
which sounds amusingly "Mr. Roboto" inspired. The liner notes explain
that the "keyboard overdubs [were] recorded at The Fisk Institute For
Keyboard Awareness." And, yes, they do make us very aware of Steve Fisk's
large and stylish collection of keyboards, that's for sure.
These "flaws" are minor but worth bringing up. They illustrate that
Unwound is at their best when they're playing their songs, not tinkering
with them. If you want more proof of this, just listen to "Scarlette."
Easily the stand out track on Leaves Turn Inside You, it's a huge, sad,
angry song that fits in perfectly with old-time Unwound hits like
"Feeling's Real" and "Envelope." To its benefit, it's probably also the
album's driest, most un-retouched segment. It's an absolutely beautiful
restatement of what Unwound lovers worldwide have known for years--that
this band can make wonderful and amazing sounds with just three
instruments.
Leaves Turn Inside you is a very good album from one of the great bands of
the past ten years. Whether you agree that it's their best work or
not, it's a pleasing indication that the members of Unwound want to
continue trying to stake out new musical ground but are true enough to
themselves not to abandon what made us love them in the first place.
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