ima listen again during fall if I can keep my ears away for that long
Nah listen to it anyways it slaps, imo that's everything a final album should be for a band. If you can look into the lyrics it's basically a journey through nihilism with cryptic yet evocative lyrics. The sound design and production is absolutely unique for it's time, ghostly and cold with the vocals being murmured. It's basically like if Slint, Fugazi and the Chameleons made a rock album by blending first wave post-rock, post hardcore and a bit of the aesthetics of 80s British post-punk. Lemme just copy paste my review for this album :
"BAAM ! This is actually the first Unwound album I've heard and I immediately fell in love with this one. I love everything about it. I started listening to October all Over as my first Unwound song and loved it instantly, then Demons Sing Love Songs and then Off this century. It has been around a month and a half since I bumped this album almost daily and it hasn't growned off me ever since.
First off, the production is absolutely unique. The vocals are mixed much lower, giving them a ghostly feel on most tracks. It's also much more bass heavy, which contrasts heavily with a production that favorited guitars just crushing everything in the mix at the time.
This also the album that features Unwound's most compelling songwriting, especially in the second half. Scarlette narrates an abusive relationship, October All Over is about the stagnation one can find itself in life and Look a ghost is about meeting a long lost love interest.
Unwound is also at their most outlandish on this album by combining elements of post-punk, going full on post-rock, dream pop and toning down their earlier post-hardcore/emo roots. They also include synths, piano and violin strings on some tracks as well.
Songs like Look a ghost, December, Treachery and Demons Sing Love Songs ( that features such an heavenly chorus) are some of the most accessible Unwound has ever written. Off this century, Scarlette and Summer Freeze remain true to their post-hardcore background while toning down the noise. Tho I should mention Scarlette has some unorthodox vocal approach which I think fits the storyline.
One Lick Less is probably the dreamiest track they've ever made. It sounds like it could easily fit in Radiohead's Ok Computer. Absolute bliss.
On Terminus, Radio Gra and Below the Salt, they go full on post-rock. Radio Gra even sounds like a Godspeed track with all due respect. Below the Salt is a fantastic ending track, absolutely crushing, slow and bleak. The best comparison I have is another ending track of one of my favorite albums of all times which is I remember Nothing from Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division. They both make the entire album sound like it was a fun ride in comparison. It's like a downward spiral towards nihilism.
Who Cares feels like an heartfelt goodbye from the band despite the silly saxophone collage at the end, it's like a post credit scene from a movie.
All the tracks I just mentioned are all tracks I enjoyed fully, the only track I don't feel the same about is the opening track We Invent you. It's a good track but the droning synths can grow a bit tedious and the indie rock part is the most underwhelming on all the album.
But anyways, insanely beautiful and evocative album they've made. It's a proper goodbye to a great band and is the final result of their experimentation since New Plastic Ideas. It's near perfect, I would recommend this album to nearly everyone."
