Unsound Foundation

Is it a mission or a crusade? Call it what you will, but L.A’s Unsound Foundation are determined to bring genuine excitement into what a rock band can be in post-pandemic culture.

“The world has made it easier so people don't have to be in a band,” says bassist Josh Odaffer. “You can produce your whole album yourself and make it work. But the mistakes, the oddness that comes from working with other people—the things that you're not expecting—that's where the magic really happens.”

Listeners checking into Unsound Foundation’s admirable debut, Inn For A Rude Awakening will find plenty of levels to explore. The band—bassist Odaffer, guitarist Tim Cravens and drummer Allen Kronenberger—is more spiritually aligned with the zeitgeist of ‘80s rockers who chose to express earnest commentaries and emotions without pretense. Consider “Eye For An Eye,” which feels like the Clash’s Mick Jones covering the best song the Gun Club never wrote. “Faded” is a reckless tale of people who seek friends at the bottom of a bottle. And moments like the caffeinated pogo-fest “Pounce” is the stuff that socially non-distanced, full-contact rock ‘n’ roll was made for.

“We fit into a lot of different things because we're not necessarily so straightforward,” says Odaffer. “Our influences definitely span from ‘60s to current times, and we use all of those aspects to squeeze out whatever music that we're hearing in our head. It's all rock: a whole bunch of little things, but it has that nostalgic feeling to it.”

You don’t need a sleeveless tee or black Ray Bans to represent for Unsound Foundation. You just need to rediscover the liberation one feels when faced with cranked amps and a drummer in high gear. “We want to make thinking man's fun, rock music,” Odaffer summarizes succinctly. “We just love every aspect of being in a band. And it would be great to help get the world back to where it was—to that camaraderie, that kind of group mentality of music again.”