Unrest was an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, area. It was one of Mark Robinson's projects for what would eventually become the TeenBeat label, also created by Robinson while in high school. Developing from an experimental approach of never playing the same song twice, earlier material seemed to be influenced by everything from

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

. Original members Robinson (guitar) and drummer Philip Krauth were joined by Bridget Cross on bass in 1990 and their sound evolved into a minimalist but lively kind of pop. The two full-length albums released with this line up, 1992's '' Imperial f.f.r.r.'' and 1993's '' Perfect Teeth'' (distributed by the influential British label

4AD Records 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of t ...

) featured pop songs interspersed with

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

percussive and sonic tracks, sometimes featuring nothing but white noise, beeps or sirens.

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

released around the same time period reveal a more pronounced gap between pop and experimental elements. The group broke up in 1994 with Krauth pursuing a solo career and Robinson and Cross continued for a time as Air Miami, which released two singles and one album, ''me me me''. Since Air Miami's demise in the mid '90s, Robinson has continued to release various solo projects, as well as albums with his bands Cotton Candy and Flin Flon, and continues to run the TeenBeat label as well. On February 24, 2005, Unrest played a one-time reunion show at Washington's

Black Cat A black cat is a Cat, domestic cat with black fur. They may be a specific Purebred, breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular or mixed breed. Most black cats have golden iris (anatomy), irises due to their high melanin pigment content. Bl ...

club as a part of the TeenBeat Records 20th anniversary celebration. Also appearing were Eggs, +/-, True Love Always, The Fontaine Toups, and Jonny Cohen. On April 22, 2008, Teenbeat released an album by Cross under the alias ''Maybe It's Reno''. The self-titled album features Robinson and Krauth on the first seven tracks, almost equating this project to another reunion of Unrest, though this time, all of the songs are written by Cross and she also performs all of the vocals. Unrest reunited again for a small east coast tour in July 2010.

Discography

Albums

* '' Unrest'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 2), (05/01/1985) CS * '' Lisa Carol Freemont'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 6), (August 29, 1985) CS * '' Tink of S.E.'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 14), (October 31, 1987) LP * '' Malcolm X Park'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 21)/

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label that was founded in 1973. Founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976 and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label rel ...

, (October 31, 1988) LP/CS * '' Kustom Karnal Blackxploitation'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 21)/ Caroline Records, (04/06/1990) LP/CS * '' Imperial f.f.r.r.'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 77)/ Caroline Records/ No.6 Records/ Guernica, (March 16, 1992) LP/CD/CS * '' Perfect Teeth'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 119)/ 4AD, (08/07/1993) 7-inch Box Set/LP/CD/CS

Singles

* ''Unrest'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 7), (11/07/1985) 7-inch * ''Catchpellet'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 28), (03/01/1989) 7-inch * ''Catch of the Day'', split single with Shudder to Think, Big Dragg Records (1990) 7-inch * ''Cherry Cherry'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 49)/ Hemiola Records, (03/11/1991) 7-inch * ''Yes, She Is My Skinhead Girl'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 42)/

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent mu ...

(IPU 17), (March 16, 1991) 7-inch * ''A Factory Record'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 63)/

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

, (04/08/1991) 7-inch * ''Bavarian Mods & Other Hits'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 84)/ Homestead Records, (January 27, 1992) 7-inch * ''So Sick'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 98), (August 23, 1993) 7-inch * ''Where Are All Those Puerto Rican Boys? / Mountain'' with

Stereolab Stereolab are an English people, Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's sound incorporates repetitive motorik beats with the use of vintage electronic keybo ...

, TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 121), (October 13, 1993) split 7-inch * ''Make Out Club (Remix)'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 126C/D), (December 17, 1993) 7-inch * ''Animal Park'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 133C/D), (February 23, 1994) 7-inch

EPs

* ''

Isabel Bishop Isabel Bishop (March 3, 1902 – February 19, 1988) was an American painter and graphic artist. Bishop studied under Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League of New York, where she would later become an instructor. She was most notable fo ...

'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 70)/ 4AD, (July 21, 1992) 7-inch/12-inch/CD * ''

Cath Carroll Cath Carroll (born 25 August 1960) is a British musician. Career Carroll was born on 25 August 1960 in Chipping Sodbury, England, but raised in Swansea, then Manchester. She played guitar in post-punk band Property of... in 1978, which also inc ...

'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 105)/ 4AD, (June 23, 1993) 7-inch/12-inch/CD

Compilations

* '' Lisa Carol Freemont'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 6), (August 29, 1985) CS * ''Extremism in Defense of Liberty is No Vice'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 1), (February 23, 1985) CS * ''The Trouble with Harry'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 11), (January 25, 1986) CS * ''

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'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 23), (September 9, 1988) CS * ''Magic Ribbons'', 7-inch, Leopard Gecko Records (LG 005) (1991) 7-inch box set compilation * ''Teenbeat 50'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 50)/ Matador Records, (11/12/1993) CD/LP/CS * ''Afternoon Delight: Love Songs From Sub Pop'', Sub Pop (1992) * '' International Hip Swing'', K Records (1993) * '' The Machines: Simple Machines 7-inchs (1990–1993)'', Simple Machines Records (SMR19), (1994) * '' Fuck Pussy Galore (& All Her Friends)'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 67)/

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City ap ...

, (December 13, 1993) LP/CD/CS * '' B.P.M. (1991–1994)'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 175), (June 20, 1995) LP/CD/CS

Live albums

* ''Live at DC Space'' with Dustdevils, Easy Records (Easy 6)/ TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 41), (February 15, 1990) CS * ''Newcastle, August 4, 1993'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 462), (September 28, 2009) CD * ''Washington D.C., February 24, 2005'', TeenBeat Records (TEENBEAT 469), (September 28, 2009) CD

References

* ''Wakefield: Teenbeat Book of Numbers'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Unrest 4AD artists Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C. Caroline Records artists Indie pop groups from Washington, D.C. Matador Records artists Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 Musical groups reestablished in 2010 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 TeenBeat Records artists 1983 establishments in Washington, D.C.