Spring Break
Unwound’s latest takes a 180-degree turn
Jim Toweill
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This is not instant gratification. The first listen of Unwound's new double CD/LP Leaves Turn Inside you is liable to leave one confused, alienated and possibly intrigued at a warm, stiff arms' length. For long-time Unwound fans, this will probably be even more of a challenge than the last offering from the Olympia, Wash. guitar/bass/drums trio, 1998's Challenge For A Civilized Society.
The first track, "We Invent You," begins with two minutes of lush, liquid keyboard droning before the traditional instrumentation appears and partially solidifies into a haunting, airy number that is hardly recognizable as Unwound. The band seems to be very much aware of this though, and the lyrics give hints that their departure from the past is conscious: "now nothing will be the same concentration this phrase 'Beyond This World I live'...I'm inventing you..." They're certainly inventing new dimensions for themselves to explore as well as descriptions for us to label them with.
Unwound hinted in the past that they were interested in more than just their three respective instruments, adding keyboard and electronic-based tracks as an afterthought on earlier records, but here, they let exotic instrumentation take over and completely have its way with the music. Cellos, Mellotron, piano, organ, optiphone, synthesizers and vocals inseminated with enough reverb to make a cave jealous are all present, dominating, and give the record a dark, swamp-like texture that is only brought back to light by a twinkling guitar line or Sara Lund's marvelous, crisp drumming.
Compositionally, the record immerses the dry towel of traditional song structure in dirty water and flings it against a white wall in order to capture the emerging patterns; that is, the album goes where it wants to, even if that means songs slide into occasional oblivion and come out as completely different compositions.
However, the band hasn't completely severed itself from its more energetic past. "October All Over" begins with a riff that is unmistakably Unwound, and even though singer/guitarist Justin Trosper doesn't explode into fury, it's one of the few tracks that sound like a natural progression instead of a headlong leap into unknown territory.
It's not easy to discern whether or not this is a languid, disjointed masterpiece, or just an above-average album that suffers from more experimentation than necessary. But after a few listens, the dark, glacial entity that Unwound has become forces its weight into the bloodstream and melts into a lulling, engrossing substance.
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