AMG Review of Single History: 1991-1997

Stewart Mason
All Music Guide

A curiously incomplete anthology of Unwound's non-LP singles and compilation tracks -- two early singles, "Kandy Korn Rituals" and "You Bite My Tongue," are inexplicably missing, although one previously unreleased track, "Mile Me Deaf," is included -- A Single History: 1991-1997 is nonetheless essential for fans of the Olympia-based noise rockers. Of course, like all such compilations, it's a rather hit-or-miss affair, featuring both utterly essential tracks like the whisper-to-a-scream dynamics of the quietly tense "Eternalux" and the Sonic Youth-like rocker "Negated" to a few failed experiments and lesser efforts like the dull, detuned "Said Serial." One particular standout is the epic "The Light at the End of the Tunnel Is a Train," a ten-minute seeming improvisation with samples and found-sound vocals that sounds very much like what the experimental post-rock leader Justin Trosper and former Unwound drummer Brandt Sandeno would further explore on the Replikants' Slickaphonics.