Unrest, imperial f.f.r.r. (side A)

Unrest's 1992 album imperial f.f.r.r. came at the early end of the indie rock explosion and helped define some of its conventions.  While the album was recorded in a professional studio, it sounds primitive and stripped down, in some ways resembling the lo-fi movement that came in the near future.  The tracks are really diverse, from memorable melodic songs to an electronic track with dance beats, and the sequence between tracks lacks pattern or coherence.  The simple design of the front cover, however, seems to have had little influence on indie-rock designs, which tended to be more personal and chaotic.  This 2010 vinyl reissue looks great, on clear vinyl and with a printed inner sleeve, but the mastering emphasizes the album's primitive qualities, with light low-end and uneven track volumes.