Search - Unwound :: Fake Train

Noisy, low budget, yet very good.

05/13/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was Unwounds first album for a while until they released an earlier recorded album 2 years later. I still think of it as their debut. With then new drummer Sarah Lund, Unwound immediately established their noisy, experimental brand of indie rock. Some of the songs sound almost punk while others have melodious guitar hooks and quiet, hushed vocals. Actually, all the songs have either hushed vocals or really loud screaming but it fits with their "mellow now, exploding later" sound. The best song on the album and possibly the best song they have ever written is "Kantina". The song starts out with a rumbling bass line and moves into their regular quiet, loud routine until the end which branches out into an ethereal, weird guitar experiment that is repetitive but not boring even though it stretches out for minutes. A great album to start listening to Unwound with."

January music.

James Burns | Bellingham, WA | 12/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Quite fitting, it is, that this album was recorded in January. This album is the sound of eating hot macaroni and cheese with the fire blaring on a foggy, cold, winter afternoon in the Pacific Northwest. Noisy, melodic, chaotic, and beautiful. There's a "Daydream Nation"-era Sonic Youth feel, but impenetrable walls of guitar noise and screaming pulled straight out of the AmRep vaults remind you that this is a punk rock record. A better soundtrack to watching the snow fall does simply not exist. I can see Justin, Vern and Sara practicing these songs in a basement or garage, too cold to sweat, Justin's breath visible as he screams the words to "Rat Bite" in the microphone. Oh, by the way, grunge kids will enjoy learning that Nirvana bought Unwound beer and let them use their practice space from reading the thank you list."

Fake train soars

Justin Marshall | NY, NY United States | 11/29/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Unwound has been described by a friend of mine as a band closely following Sonic Youth's career, albeit in an even more sonic and dischordant manner. I completely disagree, but if he is right, this is Unwound's "Daydream Nation". There is brilliant writing here, and a great "transcendant" album--from minimalist post-punk to complex and full indie rock. Excuse me for the simplification here, but I find it to be generally true that some of the best albums are in-between styles (pavement being the best example), and this is no exception. This is great listening for a subway ride, a break-up, a cataclysmic natural disaster."