NYC noise-punk trio Unsane returns to Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO -- While many experimental noise-rock acts emerged from the East Village post-punk underground in the late '80s, none matched the corrosive vitriol and brutality of Unsane. Founded in 1988 by guitarist and vocalist Chris Spencer and the original rhythm section of drummer Charlie Ondras and bassist Pete Shore while the members were attending Sarah Lawrence College, the band mixed the dissonance of Sonic Youth and Swans with an aggressive NYC hardcore attack.
Infamous for its graphic crime-scene-photo cover art, Unsane created a crushing, cacophonous template that would later be hijacked by a parade of far less venomous (or interesting) alt-metal bands. The band refined it's bludgeoning sound for two years before actually playing in front of an audience, but quickly became an integral part of the vital New York noise-rock scene with contemporaries like Helmet, Cop Shoot Cop and Surgery. The band earned solid reviews for the droning, vicious sludge punk heard on its eponymous 1990 debut for Matador Records and a subsequent singles collection before being dealt a devastating blow with the heroin overdose death of Ondras in 1992.
The band regrouped with drummer Vinnie Signoreli (who has previously played in Foetus and Swans) to record Total Destruction, their first release handled by a major label due to a deal Matador struck with Atlantic Records. While Helmet would softened its edge after signing to a major for their breakthrough album Meantime, Unsane if anything went on the offensive, making a video for the song "Body Bomb" that featured a disturbed attacker strapping an explosive to himself and blowing up a building full of people. Not surprisingly, MTV banned the clip from being shown.
Shore would depart in 1994 and was replaced by bassist Dave Curran, who made his recorded debut with the band on Scattered, Smothered & Covered, the group's first album for Amphetamine Reptile Records. Unsane managed a minor MTV hit with the lo-fi clip for "Scrape" that featured band footage interspersed with raw video of skateboarder wipeouts. The trio would continue to tour heavily, but an incident where Spencer was attacked in Vienna while Unsane was promoting their 1998 Relapse Records album Occupational Hazard left the band's leader shaken after he was hospitalized for major surgery and internal bleeding.
Following an extended hiatus, Unsane returned stronger than ever with Blood Run, released by Relapse Records in 2004. The band has continued to put out compelling new music for a variety of labels -- notably Mike Patton's artist-friendly Ipecac imprint, which released the blues-tinged 2007 album Visqueen, and Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles, who issued the equally acclaimed Wreck in 2012.
While Spencer has split his creative output between Unsane and his West Coast-based side project Cutthroats 9, in 2017 the trio put out Sterilize via Southern Lord Records, marking the band's first release of new music in five years. Spencer essentially said that Unsane was over a couple of years later when he launched his new more synth/industrial influenced all-star project Human Impact featuring members of Cop Shoot Cop and Swans. While the group was signed to Faith No More/Mr. Bungle singer Mike Patton's Ipecac Records -- who released the band's eponymous debut in 2020 -- unfortunate timing with the start of the pandemic shutdown seriously curtailed touring plans. The new quartet has remained active, issuing a follow-up EP and playing European festivals last year.
Despite plans to leave Unsane behind, Spencer had a change of heart after a test pressing surfaced of the band's long lost first recording for Circuit Records that was supposed to be released over three decades ago in 1989. He founded his new imprint Lamb Unlimited to combine the songs with several demo recordings to issue Improvised Munitions & Demo on vinyl and CD along with reissues of remastered versions of the band's first two albums for Matador.
For these two shows at the Ivy Room in Albany headlined by Spencer and the new Unsane line-up featuring the current rhythm section of Human Impact bassist Eric Cooper (Made Out of Babies) and drummer Jon Syverson (Daughters), the trio will be joined by different local support bands each night. On Monday, support is provided by Seized Up and Disastroid. An all-star Santa Cruz punk outfit, Seized Up features Bl'ast singer Clifford Dinsmore backed by Good Riddance bassist Chuck Platt, guitar player Danny Buzzard from '90s band All You Can Eat and Distillers/Nerve Agents drummer Andy Granelli (all three instrumentalists were also in short-lived power violence crew Fast Asleep). First coming together in 2019, Seized Up issued its ferocious debut album Brace Yourself in 2020 on Pirates Press Records. Formed over a decade ago by singer/guitarist Enver Koneya and bassist Travis Williams, Disastroid puts a unique twist on the typical stoner-rock formula by adding elements of early '90s Amphetamine Reptile Records style noise rock and later instrumental post/math-rock to the mix.
On Tuesday night, support is provided by SF favorites Frisco. The latest band project of a local crew of punk and metal veterans of singer Bob McDonald and guitarist Andy Oglesby of sadly defunct SF post-punk outfit Hank IV, ex-Acid King/Altamont drummer Joey Osbourne, former Lost Goat guitarist Eric Peterson and bassist Jason Ricci first came together in 2017.
Taking a decidedly different direction than one might expect of a band featuring a pair of heavyweight metal musicians, Frisco explores a hard-swinging style of knotty noise punk topped by McDonald's tuneful, manic vocals that split the difference between PiL-era John Lydon and the lurching unpredictability of Scratch Acid/The Jesus Lizard frontman David Yow. The group has become a regular attraction in Bay Area clubs, supporting such notable acts as Red Fang, Big Business and Qui. The band released its debut album Love Songs for Phantom Limbs in 2019, capturing the quintet's bracing stage show on wax. Opening Tuesday will be Oakland-based industrial noise-rock crew Reptoid.
Unsane
Monday-Tuesday, Feb. 13-14, 8 p.m. $18-$22
The Ivy Room