Unwound is one of the most influential bands in my life. I started listening to them when the released their third album "New Plastic Ideas" when I was in high school and they really bridged the gap between some of the "harder" sounding stuff and the "indie" rock I was listening to. Unwound exuded such a strong positive D.I.Y. ethic that really resonated with me and was one of the reasons I started "making music" with my friends and it eventually lead me down a career path of making art. They really had a great sound that was way arty and dark, and in no way sounded like hardcore which, sorry, I was never a fan. The music varied from very stripped down indie/garage rock (ex. Entirely Different Matters), to very cinematic and epic (ex. For Your Entertainment), and they concluded their amazing run with the artful double LP "Leaves Turn Inside You" which was an amazing departure from their self titled first LP. Through the years I kept buying their records and singles and each time was amazed by their very obvious growth between releases, but their independent attitude and aesthetic always fought it's way through. They never signed to a major label, and have the second greatest number of releases on Kill Rock Stars, (next to giants Sleater Kinney).
Which brings me to the second part of this post which is tied in w/ Unwound, and that's basically the entire music scene from Olympia, WA (and surrounding areas) from the early to mid 1990's. In 1994 when I was in high school I went out there with some friends for a music festival called Yoyo-A-Gogo, which featured like a hundred of the most amazing bands from all over. Built To Spill, Lync, The Spinnanes, Lois, GodHead Silo, Slant 6, Neutral Milk Hotel, E 17, Dahlia Seed, Heavens To Betsy, Beck, Versus, Team Dresch, Some Velvet Sidewalk, Crayon, Mary Lou Lord, Hush Harbor, Fitz OD, Karp, and so many more.... It was the greatest week of my high school years... such a huge influence as I still listen to the majority of these bands almost 15 years later.
