This week we're talking about US Maple. Which is a bit like saying we're talking about having your teeth drilled without anaesthetic.

The Chicago quartet spent twelve years making music that deliberately disappointed every expectation you might have about rock music. They took guitars, drums, and vocals and somehow made them sound like they were arguing with each other in a language nobody understood. It was brilliant. It was infuriating. It was absolutely necessary.

This is the final part of our Anti Rock trilogy, where we've been exploring bands that knew the rules of rock music inside out and chose to break every single one of them. US Maple didn't just break the rules though. They took the rulebook, fed it through a modified guitar with quarter tone frets, and sang over it like a demented lounge singer having a breakdown.

We get into their impossible discography, their custom instruments that were designed to sound worse, their legendary tour with Pavement where they got pelted with rubbish nightly, and that infamous Oklahoma City incident involving Xanax and a cockroach. We also try to answer the eternal question: why would anyone voluntarily listen to this?

Fair warning: this episode might make you feel slightly seasick. That's entirely by design.

Featuring Ferruccio Quercetti from the brilliant Italian band Cut, who knows more about post punk and experimental music than literally anyone we know.

Highlights:

00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:58 Meet the Hosts and Anti-Rock Series Recap
05:25 Defining Anti-Rock vs. Post-Rock - The Core Question
18:51 Chicago's Noise Rock Scene and US Maple's Origins
20:32 The Band Formation and Todd Riman's Hybrid Guitar
24:00 "Snagglepuss on a Bender" - Early Recording Stories
31:47 The Commitment to Anti-Rock Philosophy
38:00 The Legendary Oklahoma City Incident
44:00 Shorty: The Band That Spawned US Maple
49:00 Album Deep Dive: Long Hair in Three Stages
59:08 Sang Fat Editor and Quarter-Tone Guitar Experiments
01:08:00 Talker and Working with Michael Gira
01:17:00 Purple on Time - The "Mainstream" Album
01:22:13 Al Johnson's Anti-Rock Manifesto
01:24:46 Why US Maple is "Weirdly Soothing"
01:29:00 Mark's Virgin Takeaway on the Band
01:33:54 Conclusion and Farewell

This week we're tackling the wonderfully niche concept of anti-rock. Or more specifically, we're trying to work out what the hell it actually is, why Google doesn't seem to know either, and how it connects to everything from Frank Zappa taking the piss out of The Beatles to bands who are so talented they deliberately make themselves sound rubbish.

Chris has dragged poor Mark and our resident punk professor Ferro down a rabbit hole that starts with French composers banging bits of concrete in the 1940s and somehow ends up at US Maple, a band that sounds like they're actively trying to annoy you. Along the way we encounter Captain Beefheart's deliberately mental Trout Mask Replica, The Residents being mysterious weirdos in eyeball masks, and Suicide essentially inventing electronic music with what amounts to a homemade fuzz box.

We get properly stuck into the prehistory of experimental music, from Pierre Schaeffer's musique concrète through to the New York art scene of the 1970s. Our main thesis is that anti-rock isn't just noise for the sake of it - it's what happens when genuinely skilled musicians decide to systematically tear apart rock conventions from the inside. Think of it as punk's more cerebral, art school cousin who's read too much Derrida.

This is part one of three. Next week we'll tackle the No Wave explosion in late 70s New York, and part three will finally explain why US Maple exist and why anyone would voluntarily listen to them. We also touch on Glenn Branca's guitar symphonies, Pere Ubu's Cleveland weirdness, and try to work out why some of the most influential experimental music came from artists who could absolutely play it straight if they wanted to. Spoiler: they definitely didn't want to.

Timestamps:

Episode Highlights:

This week we're diving into the wonderfully gloomy world of Emma Ruth Rundle. Or more specifically, we're having a bit of a discussion whether she's actually goth or not, what goth even means, and how it may be broader than some think. Musically, Chris thinks most of her catalogue is a bit pants but she has artistic integreity. Mark reckons she's brilliant.

Emma Ruth Rundle has spent her career shape-shifting between projects like some sort of musical chameleon with commitment issues. From her early folk-gaze days with The Nocturnes to her brief stint with post-rock titans Red Sparrows. From the overlooked Marriages project to her increasingly experimental solo work. She's never been one to stay in her lane. The question is: does all this reinvention actually work, or is it just restless artist syndrome?

We get deep into the weeds of her entire discography. Our main focus is 2016's "Marked for Death", which Mark insists is her masterpiece and Chris... well, Chris has opinions. We also tackle the thorny question of what actually constitutes "goth" in 2025. Spoiler: it's probably not what you think. Plus we discuss her genuinely unnerving experimental albums. And try to work out why Sargent House thought it was a good idea to send a recovering alcoholic to record alone in the desert. With unlimited booze.

Episode Highlights:

• 00:00 Introduction and Studio Setup at Variety Bar
• 05:21 The Great Goth Debate Begins
• 18:45 Emma Ruth Rundle's Project History
• 32:48 Electric Guitar One: Ambient Experiments
• 39:00 Some Heavy Ocean: The Proper Debut
• 44:14 On Dark Horses: Chris's Least Favourite
• 52:26 The Thou Collaboration: Overrated or Underrated?
• 59:48 Engine of Hell: Stripped Back and Boring?
• 1:04:06 Electric Guitar Two: Pure Horror Movie Soundtrack
• 1:13:28 Marked for Death: The Desert Sessions
• 1:26:00 Final Verdicts and Wrap-Up

This week we're talking about the Leeds band Vessels. Or more specifically we're talking about their quite abrupt change from identikit post rock band to something a lot more electronic and a lot more enticing.

By their own admission, Vessels had something of a problem: the band had to evolve or die. They were trapped making the same post rock songs as everyone else, using the same delay pedals, creating the same "emotional" buildups that made grown men in plaid shirts cry. So they did something radical: they put down their guitars and picked up synthesisers.

The result was Dilate, an album that lost them some fans but gained them something more valuable - an actual identity. In this episode, we not only get into the weeds of their discography (as we always do), but we also talk about post rock generally, as well as the band's history, their decision to turn to live electronic, how much of a nightmare that actually can be to pull off live, the influence that Berlin clubs had on their new direction, and so much more.

Episode highlights:

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Setup
02:24 Introducing the Band: Vessels
03:57 Exploring Vessels' Evolution
07:26 The Post-Rock Genre and Vessels' Place in It
25:16 Vessels' Early Work and Initial Reception
37:41 Analysing the Last Third of the Album
38:06 Songwriting Evolution and Structural Ambitions
38:48 Drummers and Instrumentation
39:59 Remixes and Bonus Albums
40:29 Glastonbury and the Inflection Point
41:02 Transition to Electronic Music
41:46 Reflecting on the Change of Direction
44:56 The Great Distraction Album
45:19 Challenges of Remote Collaboration
47:39 Vocal Contributions and Collaborations
54:19 Dilate Album Review
01:08:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

This week Dave returns as we dive into our bag of covermount CDs and unearth a real gem.

Casey wasn't messing about. He whittled down his selection from 60 songs, phoned Henry Rollins and Satyr personally for unreleased tracks, and designed the cover himself. The result was 26 tracks of whiplash-inducing genius that introduced countless metal and punk fans to bands they'd never have discovered otherwise. From Refused's "New Noise" and Iron Monkey's feral sludge to birthday party's pre-Bad Seeds insanity and proper OG punk from Discharge and X-Ray Specs, this was cultural education disguised as a free CD. The fact we're still dissecting every track choice 20+ years later proves Casey achieved something genuinely special - a compilation that worked as both a history lesson and a challenge to dig deeper into the underground.

• [00:00:00] Welcome to the cave: Easter resurrections and new studio vibes
• [00:05:39] Casey Chaos biography: From skateboard prodigy to punk legend
• [00:18:00] Rollins Band gets the pub rock treatment (Chris ducks for cover)
• [00:24:00] The Kinison: When Oblong, Illinois meets post-hardcore
• [00:29:00] Murderdolls: Budget Misfits for the nu-metal generation
• [00:32:00] Discharge delivers the D-beat masterclass
• [00:43:00] Iron Monkey: Nottingham sludge at its most feral
• [00:37:00] Refused drops "New Noise" and changes everything
• [00:42:00] Turbonegro: Norwegian glam-punk that divides the room
• [00:43:00] Void: The DC hardcore deep cut that finally clicks
• [00:46:00] Immortal: When black metal meets the Tony Hawk soundtrack
• [00:51:00] X-Ray Specs: Polystyrene schools the youngsters
• [00:56:00] Zyklon: Emperor side-project with uncomfortable baggage
• [01:02:00] Cave In: The wrong track for the right band
• [01:04:00] Birthday Party: Nick Cave's mental early years get the respect they deserve
• [01:06:00] Nasum: Swedish grindcore brings back the brutality
• [01:07:00] The Distillers: Brody Dalle's voice cuts through everything
• [01:13:00] Eyehategod vs Iron Monkey: The great sludge debate
• [01:14:00] Division of Laura Lee: Sweden's most forgettable export
• [01:15:00] The Haunted: At The Gates members go full throttle
• [01:17:00] Mortiis: Norwegian dungeon synth gets the goth treatment
• [01:20:00] Gary Numan: The robot pioneer closes out the education
• [01:22:00] Highlights, lowlights, and wild cards: The final verdict

Joe from Shit You May Not Have Seen Podcast/the bands Go Down Fighting and Man Must Die, jois us this week. And his pick is somewhat controversial: Immortal Technique's second album second album Revolutionary Vol. 2. In true unsung style, it ends up leading to a massive debate about separating art and artist, all whilst looking closely at his politics and dissemination of conspiracy theories. Felipe Coronel fled Peru's civil war as a child, became a battle rap champion, and built a career on politically charged underground hip-hop - but how much of his "truth-telling" is actually that?

We get into the weeds with that and much more.

[00:02:00] - Fash comments on recent anti-fascist videos
[00:04:00] - Joe's hip-hop origin story since 1992
[00:13:00] - Chris's deep-dive into Technique's Peru background
[00:30:00] - InfoWars appearance discussion begins
[00:33:00] - Sandy Hook moment that disgusts Chris
[00:38:00] - COVID conspiracy theories breakdown
[00:44:00] - Andrew Tate connection revealed
[00:53:00] - Revolutionary Volume Two track-by-track
[01:00:00] - Jean Gray vocabulary study tangent
[01:18:00] - "Point of No Return" analysis
[01:22:00] - "Dance With the Devil" storytelling masterclass
[01:33:00] - "You Never Know" - the other narrative banger
[01:40:00] - Mark's final verdict on the confrontational tone
[01:47:00] - Bonus Peru World Cup conspiracy (Chris's Nexus moment)
[01:51:00] - Next week: Casey Chaos compilation with Dave Weaver

On this episode we dive deep into the musical history of one of Italy's most fascinating and forward-thinking bands - Krisma (or Chrisma as they were originally known). This husband and wife duo from Milan created music that was light years ahead of its time, with their 1977 album "Chinese Restaurant" laying the groundwork for sounds that wouldn't become mainstream until decades later.

We explore how this band went from Italian pop stardom to experimental post-punk pioneers, working with the likes of Hans Zimmer and Vangelis along the way. We chat about their various musical reinventions, that time Maurizio allegedly cut his finger off on stage (or did he?), and how their track "Miami" sounds remarkably like Radiohead's Kid A... except it was released 23 years earlier!

From performing with The Beatles to mingling in Andy Warhol's circle, Krisma's story is as fascinating as their music is innovative. So grab a cuppa, settle in, and let us introduce you to your new favourite obscure band.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/unsungpod

00:00 Introduction to the Unsung Podcast
00:37 Meet the Hosts and Album Introduction
04:55 Band Background: Chrisma's Origins
12:45 Album Analysis: Chinese Restaurant
13:02 Listener's Insight: Fario Tte's Perspective
15:18 Maurizio's Punk Rock Commitment
17:51 Album Analysis: Hibernation
23:02 Album Analysis: Cathode Mamma
29:20 Technological Innovations and Clandestine Anticipation
36:06 Discovering a Hidden Gem
37:44 The Band's Move to New York
38:26 Exploring the Back Catalog
45:44 The Controversial 2008 Tour
49:52 Why Chinese Restaurant is an Unsung Classic
01:01:02 Final Thoughts and Conclusion