Whatever sense of unity bound a hodgepodge of underground American punk sounds in the 1990s like a Duct-tape wallet began to come unglued by the end of the decade. A couple years into the new millennium and the emo scene that once had enough space for a band as brazen in their fusion of slowcore, jazz, and post-hardcore as Boston's Karate would barely be reflected in a cookie-cutter style commercialized by major labels and mid-level indies that acted like the majors. The part of punk that overlapped with indie rock would begin a slow ascent from it's comfortable home on college radio charts to the soundtrack of American Apparel shops and eventually the Billboard charts. In this strange, stratifying milieu, Karate, a band that seemed to thrive by cleaving to a nether-zone between several sounds that otherwise never touched, delivered an engrossing constantly shifting shot of rock that covered three sides of 12-inch vinyl: Unsolved arrived in 2000. Karate spent much of the ' 90s wrestling punk aggression and volume into svelte shapes and often condensed what felt like a generation of scuffed-up intensity into whispers. The quiet moments carried much of that unbridled intensity throughout Unsolved -the fuzzy guitar squawk and snatchet of machine-gun drumming on "Sever" aside, things hit a little more sharply the moment the trio pivoted into their subdued jazz melodic interplay on that song. Karate's transition into indie-rock maturity had become so complete by the time they dropped Unsolved that you could play the coffeehouse soul of "Halo of the Strange" and sultry jazz of "Lived-But-Yet-Named" to an unsuspecting punk and spend an entire evening trying to convince them that, yes, this band had made their bones playing the same DIY circuit made of bands that sounded like they wanted to harm their audience. But few bands other than Karate played like they understood the musical lingua franca of scene godheads such as Fugazi and Unwound, and knew how to make that language evolve, and nearly every song on Unsolved made that clear. If you didn't get the memo by the end of the elegiac 11-minute closer "This Day Next Year," which gained an irrepressible power from a plaintive guitar melody cycling through the song's back half like a yearnsome cry for the divine, you might've been better off buying a ticket for Warped Tour and waiting a decade or two to figure it out.
Show more →Release date:
May 5, 2023
Label:
Install our app to receive notifications when new upcoming releases are added.

Recommended equipment and accessories
-
Edifier R1280DB Powered Speakers
Combining classic design with modern Bluetooth connectivity, built-in amplification and versatile inputs, these speakers deliver rich, balanced sound.
-
Nobsound Little Bear T7 Tube Preamp
Delivers rich, warm audio through its high-quality vacuum tubes, featuring multiple inputs and adjustable gain
-
Technics SL-1500C Turntable
Features a direct-drive motor, a high-precision tonearm, and a premium MM cartridge, delivering exceptional sound quality
-
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO
Featuring a one-piece carbon fiber tonearm, precision-tuned motor, and a heavy steel platter with TPE damping, it ensures superior stability and sound quality.
-
Turntables - Top Picks
A selection of reliable record players you can buy today, for every budget
Featured Upcoming Vinyl
-
Le Volume Courbe Planet Ping Pong
Duophonic Super 45S
July 4, 2025 -
Botch 61524 [2xLP]
Sargent House
June 27, 2025 -
Various Artists Antones: 50 Years of The Blues (Purple, Blue And Red) [4xLP]
Antone's Records
August 22, 2025 -
Lammping & Bloodshot Bill Never Never
We Are Busy Bodies
June 27, 2025 -
Creem Circus Get. Switched. On!
Creep Records
July 18, 2025 -
Forth Wanderers The Longer This Goes on (Milky Clear)
Sub Pop
July 18, 2025 -
King Witch III (Splatter)
Listenable Records
July 11, 2025 -
Grinderman Grinderman 2 Eco
Bmg
July 18, 2025 -
Hanging Hearts Where's Your Head at
Ropeadope
July 11, 2025 -
Daniel Rodriguez Harboring Pearls
A Tone Meant Records
August 8, 2025 -
Primal Scream Come Ahead
Bmg Int'l
June 27, 2025 -
W.Cullen Hart Leap Through Poisoned Air
Orange Twin
June 20, 2025 -
wave to earth play with earth! 0.03
Wavy Seoul Inc.
August 8, 2025 -
Whiskey Myers Whomp Whack Thunder [2xLP]
Wiggy Thump Records
September 26, 2025