Issue 22.03 :: 01/21/2009 - 01/27/2009
The Unawares
The Whig: Saturday, Jan. 24
BY PATRICK WALL
“If there’s a concept to The Unawares,” guitarist John Watkins says, “it’s that we travel light.”
And while it’s odd to hear Watkins talk about a concept to The Unawares — seemingly the least conceptual band in Columbia — he has a distinct point. The Unawares are as minimalist as possible, streamlining rock ‘n’ roll to its basic instrumentation — guitar, bass and drums — and eschewing modern rock trappings to achieve maximum precision and effectiveness. For instance, Watkins shuns the use of effects pedals, simply cranking his amplifier into natural overdrive and varying the strength of his picking attack to increase or reduce the level of volume and distortion put out. Nor do The Unawares’ tunes get bogged down in individual wankery: Watkins’ careening guitar lines sabre-dance with bassist James Wallace’s Minutemen-esque melodic bass leads, all while drummer Rhett Berger keeps the band motoring ahead with steamroller force and surgical precision. As a result, The Unawares’ songs are all-killer-no-filter, in-and-out excursions into confident punk-rock bliss.
It’s all a matter, Berger says, of keeping it simple. And while The Unawares admit that their keep-it-simple ethos was a conscious choice, it shouldn’t be construed as a vapid choice to obtain cool points.
“Simple keeps it easier for us, and if it ends up being unique, then all the better,” Berger says. “Plus, when you keep it simple, there’s less to f!k up,” he adds with a laugh.
Indeed, The Unawares’ insistence on bare-bones simplicity extends to its approach to making records; Pinkie Greene — a reference to Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock — is the band’s second record done with local minimalist-recording guru Chris Wenner, who says Pinkie was recorded live onto an eight-track reel-to-reel recorder using only five microphones. (Trust us, that’s like, crazy impressive.)The result is a direct, honest recording of exactly what The Unawares are: a confident, wiry garage-punk band with some killer smart-rock songs.
“We came into [Pinkie Greene] ready to rock,” Berger says.
“I hate to say it, but keeping it as simple as we can is to our benefit,” Watkins adds. “We have to keep it tight in order to rip it off live.”
It’s a purist approach, to be sure, but the results speak for themselves; unlike most trios, The Unawares churn our music that’s much, much greater than the sum of its parts. Pinkie Greene even finds The Unawares taking down the tempo in places, and the slower cuts — particularly “Be Here” and “The Try’s Tryin’” — mesh evenly with more raucous numbers such as the gripping opener “Soul Momma” and the lithe “Ghostwalkin’.” Indeed, Pinkie Greene, as a record, flows very much like an Unawares song, with each song specifically ordered for maximum contrast.
“I think the traditional rock ‘n’ roll type of writing really has no more than an A and a B part,” Watkins says. “So there’s a very conscious decision to make the B part be a very good contrast to the A part. That gives it some life.”
And the purist approach with which The Unawares write songs leads to some prolific output; since forming in 2006, The Unawares have released two full-length records and one EP, with nearly 40 songs spread throughout.
“We could have released Pinkie in October,” Watkins says. “But the timing wasn’t right.”
Indeed, 2008 was a rough year for The Unawares: Watkins battled cancer (he’s in remission); Berger had surgery to repair damage done by cubital tunnel sydrome (he’s now fine); and the band lost a dear friend in J Armstrong, to whom the record is dedicated.
“It’s been a f!ked up year,” Berger says. “We’re starting fresh in ’09.”
And what better way than by releasing a fantastic record?
The Whig is located at 1200 Main St. The show begins at 11:30 p.m.; admission is $5, which includes a copy of Pinkie Greene. Athens psych-punk trio Bambara opens; Chris Wenner spins records following the show. Call 931-8852 or visit thewhig.org for more information.
Patrick Wall - Free Times (Jan 21, 2009)
