*** Unwound

A SINGLE HISTORY

(Kill Rock Stars)

By January 1998, Unwound had released six consistently brash, unyielding records brimming with merits -- all before any of the trio's members had turned 30. Despite their youth (and in part because of side projects), there's been a two-year lull from this once-prolific outfit. So to fill the gap, they've rounded up seven years' worth of tracks from indie compilations and their own seven-inches.

This is the type of collection that is generally aimed at hardcore fans, because in indie rock a single, for example, isn't necessarily hit-single material. But A Single History boils Unwound down to their essence, and that makes it the next-best-thing to a new slate. The 17 songs here reflect the band's oeuvre, with a focus on grinding, heavily rhythmic punk tunes with dour titles ("Miserific Condition," a harsh, near-speed-metal rant, or the more tuneful, Sonic Youth-y "Negated") and a mild case of the experimental blues (the atonal horn-and-dub excursion "Census"). There's also a dark cover of the Minutemen's "Plight" and a lot of gloom-and-doom punk made palatable by the band's ace musicianship and intuitiveness. There's even a sample-and-squall diversion of Vesuvian proportions that clocks in at more than 10 minutes, with a title that encapsulates Unwound's musical and (most likely) existential philosophy: "The Light at the End of the Tunnel Is a Train."

-- Richard Martin