SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: UNWED SAILOR – HIGH REMEMBRANCE

UNWED SAILOR
HIGH REMEMBRANCE 
CURRENT TASTE

I’m sitting at the park on a warm early spring evening, sun flirting and hiding behind sporadic cloud puffs, various walks of life grouped together with their beers in hand and joints passing, the cool bass line riffs of Seattle band Unwed Sailor’s latest album, High Remembrance soaking the inside of my head, and it couldn’t be more perfect.

Unwed Sailor’s founder and bassist, Johnathon Ford, is a very proficient player whose signature style is unique but also familiar in sound. His warm, earthy, tight delivery is free of constraints and is almost soothing in a way, the song structures sometimes hearkening back to late ‘80s early ‘90s mood pop.

With 28 years under the hood and 11 releases, the band has gone through a natural evolution in sound, their debut EP Firecracker carried a more dissonant, rough, hard edge sound, in keeping with that quality you’d hear in bands like Slint or some albums that had that Steve Albini touch such as releases by Silkworm. Over the years their sound shifted into more moody atmospheric pop. The opening track, “Truest Sentence,” gives me The Cure’s Disintegration vibes while “Don’t Let Go” has me thinking of the crisp uppity snare snap of Smashing Pumpkins “1979.” Further on, tracks like “Gingerman” and “Three Jewels” hold that moody shimmering new wave ‘90s tone.

High Remembrance is a lighthearted, positive vibe listen, bringing to mind the feelings of busting out on a road trip in springtime, an essence of freedom hanging off every chord, the thought of open roads, redwoods, and wild coastlines keeping the mind easy.

Artist Links