Empire (4LP)

Empire (4LP)

• Shrink-wrapped

As a robust rock underground got swallowed alive by the Major Label Industrial Complex, the very autonomous Unwound - Olympia, Washington's Great Noise Hope - toed the troublesome line between pay check and Check Engine light. Captured in the gaps of a ruthless touring schedule, defining fourth and fifth albums The Future of What and Repetition were issued in the back-to-back springs of 1995 and '96. Both find the band severing their post-hardcore roots, for gripping detours into Echoplex, kraut, D&B, and Mingus, as guided by a sun-worn copy of Book Your Own Fuckin' Life. No Energy collects both of these 1990s masterworks, beginning with Justin Trosper's home-made haircut stabs on "New Energy," continuing with Vern Rumsey's reanimating bass on "Corpse Pose," and closing in a wall of Sara Lund crash cymbals on "For Your Entertainment." This 33-song collection is buttressed by singles and period live tracks, a pile of double-exposed photographs, and a 10,000 word essay by latter-day Unwound diarist David Wilcox.