The Unseen

Explode (BYO)
by Duke Crevanator

Boston’s own The Unseen on the Warped Tour two years in a row? Yeah, that’s what I thought… But good for them. I’ve sung this band’s praises in the past on these here pages, and I will do so again. To be honest, I did have some trepidation going into this CD. Many street punks who’ve been around as long as The Unseen (nine years) stop being innovative and interesting and get repetitive and just plain boring.

The Unseen have certainly not hit that point with this record. It’s definitely the best-sounding record they’ve released. You can blast it as loud as your stereo can go and not get overwhelmed with plain noise. You can still actually hear individual instruments. Musically, probably because of their constant touring, they’ve really improved. They play faster and louder and keep perfect time. The lyrics are what you’d expect from The Unseen, the subject matter very street punk and political, but at least they’re intelligent, even if you don’t necessarily agree with them.

With this record, The Unseen have put themselves at the top of the heap of street punk bands in the U.S., and with things going well on the road, it appears the sky’s the limit. If there’s going to be a “mainstream” band spouting anti-estabilshment lyrics to the masses, I’d much rather have the Unseen doing it than douchebags like say, Rage Against The Machine.
(PO Box 67609 Los Angeles, CA 90067)