The year is 2001; Unwound is scheduled to headline the South by Southwest Kill Rock Stars showcase at old Emo’s. But following a convoluted series of missed connections, bassist Vern Rumsey has been left behind in Washington, drummer Sara Lund is stranded at the Denver airport, and guitarist Justin Trosper lands in the city completely alone … except for all Unwound’s gear. Thankfully, a protracted J Mascis gig delays the showcase long enough for Lund to get another flight.
With only 15 minutes of playtime, the makeshift duo extends their abrasive, repetitive noise jam “Fingernails on a Chalkboard” as members of the band XBXRX invade the stage and hop on Trosper’s shoulders.
“It’s a total circus as we play this one song over and over,” recalls Lund. “We go back, go to bed, get up and fly home. Classic Unwound gig … except no Vern, of course.”
“Classic Unwound gig … except no Vern, of course” is the bittersweet expectation Levitation audiences can hold as well. The bassist passed away in 2020, after plans for this year’s reunion tour were already in motion. Despite that tragedy, Lund says the shows have been “delightful” affairs. Jared Warren (Karp, Melvins) joins on bass, while Scott Seckington of Nocturnal Habits steps in on guitar/keys, expanding the band’s nervous, claustrophobic, and noisy post-hardcore to a fourpiece onslaught.
With the group’s profile having risen exceptionally since their salad days – thanks, in part, to the same internet-savvy Gen Z cohort who made post-breakup stars out of Duster and Sweet Trip – they’re also the biggest shows Unwound has ever played. Numero Group, which has reissued the band’s catalog over the past decade, hosts Unwound with Codeine, Karate, and Chisel on Thursday, Oct. 26, at the Far Out Lounge.
Austin Chronicle: What’s been the biggest surprise of these shows?
Sara Lund: I just assumed it was just gonna be the old folks from the old days, but to look out every night and see a sea of super young faces was just incredible. What that means to me is our music is timeless, which is what you want when you’re making music – you want it to be something that will last forever.
And every night was a reunion with old friends, people that hadn’t seen each other in 20 years. We’re all able to have a great time but also acknowledge and hold space for our grief around Vern. It’s almost like every night is this celebration of life in a way.
AC: Are there mixed emotions, not having had that feeling when you were an active trio?
SL: [The band] died the way we died because we had to, it wouldn’t have mattered how popular we were. In fact, it might have even made it worse. And it was rough, at the time and for many years afterward, knowing there was some momentum in the 2000s in the tier of bands we were in around the time we broke up. But to be beloved and discovered now, to have this kind of experience without Vern being here to experience it with us, is also bittersweet. I mean, I wish – we all wish – so much that he could have been a part of this, but it couldn’t have actually happened with him.
“But to be beloved and discovered now, to have this kind of experience without Vern being here to experience it with us, is also bittersweet.” – Sara Lund
AC: Do you feel like you’re as good a musician as you were 20 years ago, or better now?
SL: Controversial, perhaps, but I can honestly say that 20 more years of practice will actually make you a better musician [laughs]. Of course, that doesn’t mean the music we made now, if we made new music, would be better. It’d definitely be a lot less angsty and dour! That being said, life is still hard. Life is still a struggle. The struggles are different when you’re 50 than when you’re 20.
AC: Your set lists skew very early. Beloved final album, Leaves Turn Inside You, isn’t especially represented. What can we expect if y’all keep going?
SL: Hopefully we’ll be able to do something totally different for another kind of tour. A lot of our set-list-building this year involved the low hanging fruit of like, “What songs are not going to be insanely hard to relearn?” The 2023 tour got booked and sold out when we had basically had two band practices!
Thankfully, we then took the month of January and really hunkered down, and of course everything went very well. We were just keeping things a little easy on ourselves, starting from not having any idea how it was gonna go. The built-in idea there was, “If this goes well, then maybe we can do some more. Play some of the later stuff later.” We’ll see.
Unwound plays with Codeine, Karate, and Chisel on Thursday, Oct. 26, at the Far Out Lounge. Find tickets starting at $54.81 here.
This article appears in October 27 • 2023 and October 20 • 2023.