Unwed Sailor
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Unwed Sailor

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"The White Ox review"

Ford labors on somber, epic sound paintings that recall Eno’s philosophies of discreet music, but can also roll into more jazz-infused rhythms, spearheading a more out there kind of post-rock. - Real Detroit Weekly


"Live Review"

Pulsing cadences conjured up the rolling rhythm of white-capped sea waves, complete with rushing piano work and drumbeats like sunbeams piercing down into the blue depths. Even to a reviewer 30 feet away, their labors showed Unwed Sailor's members were burning themselves up, giving their all in a tightly focused and highly coordinated effort, sweating in the warm July night air as their surging harmonies shook the Opolis. - Norman Transcript


"Little Wars Review"

Sunny but sad guitars with hooks that are so memorable, you'd swear you were listening to pop music. This is what NLP favorite Unwed Sailor were known for in their beginnings. Then they added a drowsy ambient component along with some neo-classical tinkerings
in the last couple of discs. Finally, the band has successfully incorporated all of their beloved styles into one bursting-at-the-seams full-length - and we're already excited to make our Top 24
Records of the Year list. - Now Like Photographs


"Little Wars Review 1"

Little Wars, the latest offering from Unwed Sailor, is one of those albums best reserved for long early morning runs, or contemplative musings over tea or coffee on the porch while the sun rises. The album is languid and thoughtful, and perfect as background to the thoughts of dawn. Though it is not easily ignored Little Wars is an album that isn't meant for the foreground either, rather as a soundtrack to enhance and provoke. The album follows two recent EPs, Circles and The White Ox, and is Unwed Sailor's best release since The Faithful Anchor of 2001.

Finding a rival in Unwed Sailor's catalog requires going back seven years because Little Wars is such an improvement over the last full-length of 2003, The Marionette and the Music Box. That album was an interesting concept - a musical and visual fairy tale - that despite its moments of beauty felt lost when not accompanied by the gorgeous artwork of Jamie Hunt to help move the story along. The Marionette and the Music Box's individual tracks were far too fleeting to work on their own, yet didn't really add up to much either. Little Wars, in contrast, works well both on an individual track level and as a cohesive whole.

The new album also expands on Unwed Sailor's established sound, as founder Jonathan Ford meanders into progressive rock elements, most notably on "Copper Islands" and "Aurora." Though in scope it is more adventurous than past albums, Little Wars also has a feeling of familiarity. Strong bass rhythms and metronomic guitars dominate the album, and are highlighted on tracks like "The Garden," which would have felt right at home on The Faithful Anchor. Cutting a broader sonic swath could be a function of the album's recording, which was done over several stints in 2002, 2004, and 2007, in both Oklahoma and Arkansas. Adding to the album's texture, as always Ford collaborated with a large cast of musicians in the studio, including James McAllister and Jeff Shoop of Ester Drang. The instruments and musicians are a focus in Ford's work and as with nearly all of Unwed Sailor's releases, no vocals appear on Little Wars. Instrumental doesn't necessarily mean dark and foreboding though; the album's feel is mildly uplifting, especially on tracks like "Echo Roads," and at times sounds like material from The Appleseed Cast's Low Level Owl volumes. The more ambient pieces recall Hammock and The Album Leaf.

Although its name may suggest otherwise, Little Wars is a nice, peaceful album. It's not a complete departure from the majority of Unwed Sailor's catalogue, though the expansion into prog rock on several tracks is welcome. Save this one for a long commute or a drive through the country - its introspective mood will get you thinking about things past and future, an admirable accomplishment for a piece of art in our modern world. - Lost At Sea


"Live Review 2"

“This song is ten years old,” announced Jonathan Ford, bassist and frontman of instrumental rock band Unwed Sailor. “Is that too old?” No one in the well-behaved crowd at the Knitting Factory uttered an objection. “It is for me,” said Ford. “Just kidding.” And with that, the band struck up “Firecracker,” a dreamy piece from the 1999 EP of the same name.

Unwed Sailor have kept a certain consistency in their music over the years. If you liked them ten years ago, chances are, you like them now. There have been no ill-conceived Ska albums, no forays into pseudo-Springsteen heart-on-sleeve songwriting, no dabbles in African folk music. But consistency does not equal monotony. Unwed Sailor have have spent the past ten or so years since Firecracker expanding their catalogue of delicate, instrumental soundscapes, experimenting with ambient noise (Circles EP) and a story-driven acoustic song cycle (The Marionette and the Music Box) , but always managing to sound fresh and interesting, like a brighter, sunnier journey to Slint’s Spiderland, or perhaps what Explosions in the Sky would sound like if they could distill their drama and impact into a perfect three minute song.

Unwed Sailor’s set at the Knitting Factory was a nice balance between older material and songs from their latest album, Little Wars, perhaps the greatest departure for the band in it’s history. Little Wars is less post rock and more straight up rock with a definite new wave and shoegaze influence, Cure-esque synthesizers and all. The new songs are concise and dynamic, at times, bordering on epic. Even so, new and old songs sat next to one another agreeably, rooted in Ford’s sturdy bass lines and powerful melodies.

Unwed Sailor concluded their set with “Ruby’s Wishes,” another track off the near-decade old Firecracker. "Ruby's Wishes" is a beautiful song with a weaving guitar melody that builds up until it breaks away into an uptempo, fist-in-the-air climax. By now, the band have probably played "Ruby's Wishes" too many times to count, but it still sounds exciting, and I can sense the crowd's collective disappointment when it ends; proving that the song and the band have aged gracefully over the years. - Loose Record


"Little Wars Review 2"

The four-note piano figure repeats mesmerically as guitars slash out a series of rising power chords, all complex elements of Unwed Sailor’s post-rock sound held in rigorous, particular relation to one another. Little Wars, the band’s fifth record, opens with the clarity of clockwork, each note clear and burnished, every point and counterpoint carefully considered. And yet, for all the care and precision involved, there is an inescapable sense of joy here in “Copper Roads”, as the volume crests and falls and the various instruments enter and exit the song. Consider Unwed Sailor’s songs the ink-and-wash style of music, outlined meticulously, yet brought to life with exuberant blobs of color. Unwed Sailor is what Omaha’s Johnathan Ford has been up to since leaving Pedro the Lion and Roadside Monument. Here, in recordings drawn from three sessions stretched over five years time, he brings together longtime collaborators Nic Tse and Matthew Putnam and like-minded fellow travelers Bryce Chambers and James McAllister from Ester Drang to realize his dreamy sonic landscapes. Geometrically precise yet warmly organic, serenely unperturbed but with a bubbling undercurrent of mirth, this is what might happen to post-rock if you put it in a warm corner of the garden and allowed it to grow. - Pop Matters


"Little Wars Review 3"

Just a few years ago, it seemed like you couldn't pick up an indie-rock 'zine (back when everyone was doing the Kinkos thing instead of the Typepad thing), head to your local music club (back when everyone was still making enough to go on lengthy tours) or meet a new music fan (back when you met people face-to-face in clubs instead of by using handles on message boards) without hearing something about instrumental post-rock. It was the thing, for about a season, and with everyone from Sigur Ros and Don Caballero to Sharks Keep Moving and Explosions in the Sky doing their thing, it was a pretty solid genre -- except for the over-exposure.

These days, we rarely get our fingers dirty with newsprint when we read about new bands, know people's email and MySpace names better than their faces and don't seem to hear about very many teeny-tiny acts able to keep gas in the tank when they're on the road. We also don't have a couple dozen local post-rock bands chiming in alongside a small national scene, either. In that final way, at least, the new era's been good to Unwed Sailor. The band, which marks its tenth anniversary this year, isn't stuck in the middle of a glut of instrumental trendies anymore, a fact that makes Little Wars a lot more interesting than it would have been seven years ago.

That's not to say you'd toss out the nine-track album if it crossed your path in 2002. You'd just be a little inclined to file it away with all the other similar acts. Nowdays, the band's post-rock basics -- complex arrangements, jazz-style twists and turns and arrangements with an equal fondness for melody and dynamics -- seem to be a bit more of a find. Usually, the band's at work crafting atmospheres that are light and hazy, yet more intricate than a cursory listen might reveal. "Aurora" twists and turns between nearly ambient sections and riffs that explode out of the background, and "Lonely Bulls," with chiming melodies and an almost sleepy feel, in a seemingly straightforward fashion. Unwed Sailor isn't here to lay on the instrumental skills so thick we drown or show off their music-theory lessons with math-rock gymnastics, and it shows. Little Wars' ability to forget the too-flashy dynamic gimmicks of post-rock's glory days is its key for fitting in in the post-post-rock era.

As annoying as instrumental jammers could be back in the day, it's still nice to hear a band keeping the form alive. A little post-rock can go a long, long way, and, fortunately for Unwed Sailor, there's very little of it to be had in 2008. - Aversion


"Review/Live Preview"

Unwed Sailor is a fitting name for a band that's geographically restless enough to have called Seattle, Chicago, Washington D.C., Mississippi and Little Rock, Arkansas, home in the past. Currently located in Lawrence, Kansas — and buoyed by the recent release a new album, Little Wars — these promiscuous seamen have spent ten years perfecting the clean guitar work and reverb-soaked drumming that defines its instrumental indie rock. Unwed Sailor avoids the common mistakes of its wordless brethren, however, by not relying too heavily on technicality or ambience; instead, the dramatics of Explosions in the Sky combine with the shimmer (and manageable track lengths) of the Appleseed Cast. - Riverfront Times (St. Louis)


"Little Wars Review 4"

Johnathon Ford's Unwed Sailor celebrate the 10th anniversary since their 1998 debut with their most accomplished record yet, and fourth full-length Little Wars. Little Wars is the summation of all Unwed Sailor have learned and experimented with over the years. Ford & company shape the sound with atmospheric keyboards, colored guitar, high on the neck bass and much more; resulting in melodic episodes that range from floating to the cinematic, and sometimes carry to even more intense segments, making Little Wars another necessity for any lover of instrumental rock. At the end of November 2007, the band finished recording and mixing of Little Wars, with the final Little Wars sessions recorded and mixed close to Ford's Tulsa, OK childhood home in nearby Norman, OK by Chad Copelin (Page France, Umbrellas, Ryan Lindsey) in his new Blackwatch Studios. The core line-up that recorded The Marionette and the Music Box with Johnathon Ford was re-assembled, including longtime guitarist Nic Tse who now lives in Hong Kong, drummer Matthew Putman, and guitarist Matthew Depper, and combined with the current live band which includes keyboardist Brooks Tipton, drummer Patrick Ryan, and guitarist Andrew Haldeman. - Parasites and Sycophants


"Little Wars Review 5"

Perhaps the most fitting release for a group like Unwed Sailor, Little Wars was recorded from December of 2002 until November of 2007. Not surprisingly for the instrumental group — who’s only consistent member has been founded Johnathon Ford — a total of seven people contributed to the recording of Little Wars. As difficult as piecing together an album stretched out over nearly five years and between seven people may be, it seems Ford has done it. More than that, he has overcome the dull mediocrity of The White Ox from 2006.

As the opening track and building block for Little Wars, ‘Copper Islands’ is a hooking start. A relatively short instrumental track, with quick climaxes and rapid-fire of different melodies– themes that are further elaborated on later in the album. Unwed Sailor attempts to connect each song together last seen in their most brilliantly achieved The Marionette and the Music Box in 2003, in which the entire release told a fairy tale-like story through the connectivity of each track. Fittingly, drummer Matt Putman and Matt Depper (Lovedrug, Bear Colony) as well as guitarist Nic Tse (Jacky Cheung) who contributed to The Marionette are featured here as well. Tracks like ‘The Garden’ and ‘Aurora’ feed directly into each other, lulling the listener into their gentle cadences and glazing right over the track break.

Indeed, Unwed Sailor’s songs flow with their subtle twists and turns, to the point that even a minor ripple may swift by unnoticed. Tracks like ‘Campanile’ and ‘Lonely Bulls’ are not powerful post-rock attacks of climaxes, but gentle melodies of ambient tinkling. Yet, this is not the dull ambience of past releases. Similar to the modest melodies of The Album Leaf or Fireflies, Unwed Sailor presents shimmering instrumentals that are by no means catchy, if not especially attractive. Fittingly titled, Little War’s namesake track is delicate and subdued, yet many instruments chime at once - creating a sense of quiet uproar. Of little wars.

If post-rock peers Explosions in the Sky or Godspeed You Black Emperor! are dark stormy nights, then Unwed Sailor is life during the next morning; bright, sunny, sometimes dull, but evermore worth doing again tomorrow. Perhaps, like The White Ox, there is an overabundance of material and lack of presentable interest, but Little Wars so gracefully floats by that one wants, if not needs, to listen to it again. Whether or not one will enjoy (or understand) Unwed Sailor after that second listen, or after a dozen for that matter, is up to question. More of a skirmish rather than the combat Wars is filled with subtle sonic folds–an intrigue that will bring listeners back for more if they care to. - Pensatos


Discography

2008 Unwed Sailor : Little Wars cd/2xLP (Burnt Toast Vinyl)
2006 Unwed Sailor : Circles cdep/2xLP (Burnt Toast Vinyl)
2006 Unwed Sailor : The White Ox cd/2xLP (Burnt Toast Vinyl)
2004 Unwed Sailor/Toboggan : Split 7" (Gentleman Records)
2004 Unwed Sailor : The Magic Hedge 7" (Tricyle Evolutif)
2003 Unwed Sailor : The Marionette and The Music Box cd/LP (Burnt Toast Vinyl)
2002 Unwed Sailor/Early Day Miners : Stateless cd (The Great Vitamin Mystery)
2000 Unwed Sailor : The Faithful Anchor cd/LP
1998 Unwed Sailor : Firecracker cdep/7"

Photos

Bio

Unwed Sailor have been innovators in instrumental rock since their debut release in 1998. From beginnings in various post-punk and hardcore bands, including Seattle's Roadside Monument, Johnathon Ford's Unwed Sailor exhibits that wild power with the restraint of a seasoned musician and performing veteran. Their signature sound is based around Ford's leading bass melodies, melodic string keyboard arrangements, intricate groove oriented rhythms, and sparkling chime like guitars. As they prepare to celebrate their 10th anniversary, Unwed Sailor are as busy as ever. At the end of November 2007, the band finished recording and mixing of Little Wars, their 4th full-length. The new full-length, Little Wars, has been a concept for several years, originally planned to be a special 10" vinyl only release. Initial tracks were recorded in late 2002 and the band began playing a track or two as part of their live set. "Copper Islands" is a building block for the album and has become a fan favorite from their live shows. As the band grew comfortable playing the songs live, Ford decided to re-visit and expand the material into a full album. The final Little Wars sessions were recorded and mixed close to Ford's Tulsa, OK childhood home in nearby Norman, OK by Chad Copelin (Page France, Umbrellas, Ryan Lindsey) in his new Blackwatch Studios.

Little Wars is the band's most ambitious and complex release yet, building on melodic lessons and recording techniques learned over the last several albums. Not content to follow up with their energetic 2000 debut full-length, The Faithful Anchor, with a mere sequel, the band recorded 2003's The Marionette and the Music Box, challenging its fan base with a Peter and the Wolf inspired, classically influenced fairy-tale. In 2006, Unwed Sailor released The White Ox full-length and Circles ep that further departed from their live performance sound, exploring Eno/Lanois ambient recording techniques, resulting in a brooding, gloomy ambient opus wrapped in southwestern imagery. Little Wars reflects both the depth and breadth that the band has developed through these diverging releases and its live show. The songs are energetic and highly melodic, but gently colored and focused by layered keyboards and percussion with a delicate ambience. Unwed Sailor has had a revolving cast of musicians in recent years, audiences treated to various colors and flavors of the band, emphasizing its many different aspects. The core line-up that recorded The Marionette and the Music Box with Johnathon Ford was re-assembled, including longtime guitarist Nic Tse who now lives in Hong Kong, drummer Matthew Putman, and guitarist Matthew Depper, and combined with the current live band which includes keyboardist Brooks Tipton, drummer Nathan Price, and guitarists Andrew Haldeman and Bryce Chambers.

The album opens with the Who influenced "Copper Islands" which sets the pace for Little Wars, reminding fans of the live show and immediately pulling the band back towards its earlier energetic melodies. The title track and "The Garden" continue on the melodic trend, carried by the energy of drummer Matt Putman's solid complex danceable rhythms, but also bending the record back towards lush ambience with various choir and synth keyboard parts that bring to mind The Cure or New Order. Unwed Sailor is not afraid to be aggressive as it moves on towards its heavy distortion influenced "Aurora". While it is trendy to incorporate heavy/distortion influences into instrumental rock these days, Ford has tapped into this energy many times over his career, especially during blistering Roadside Monument performances. On at least one occasion, Ford was so caught up in the frenzied live performance, he ripped the four strings off his bass with his bare hands. But even on "Aurora", the heaviness is balanced by Tipton and Depper's lush keyboard arrangements, creating soaring sounds that are sure to inspire, further evidence of the Unwed Sailor dialectic. "Echo Roads" is a more traditional rock composition, carried by a Neil Young influenced melody. "Lonely Bulls" recalls the cuckoo-clock staccato of The Marionette and the Music Box, mixing in dense layers of keyboards and storybook/lullaby melodies. "Numeral" closes Little Wars drenched in heavy effects and ambience bringing to mind Brian Eno or Pink Floyd. Little Wars stands alone. It is truly a unique, progressive, and challenging addition to the growing number of instrumental albums hitting the shelves.

Unwed Sailor hit the road in a big way in 2007, touring extensively throughout the US on multiple tours and playing shows with bands including Murder By Death, Battles, This Will Destroy You, Twilight Sad, mewithoutyou, Appleseed Cast, Lotus, and Daughters. Unwed Sailor has already toured in Spring and early Summer 2008 in the US with several dates with Owen, Ryan Lindsey, and Sybris. The band is set to tour Europe in early autumn to support Little Wars, continuing to challen