Baltimore emo trio The Unheard Ones are opening up the vault after three decades. The band are releasing Stories and Songs on September 18 through Handstand Records, a collection of unreleased ’90s studio and demo recordings honoring late drummer Eli Jones.
Today, the band are debuting the video for their song “Eight Minute Absolution” from the Stories and Songs collection on New Noise Magaine. The song captures the grit and emotional rawness of ’90s emo but still hints at the punkier emo music that was to come in the mid-2000s. The collage-style video perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the song, keeping that same rawness and grittiness in the visuals.
Speaking about the song, vocalist and guitarist Tim Kabara says:
“‘Eight Minute Absolution’ isn’t eight minutes long; we always kept the songs short, sharp, and to the point. It’s the other side of the Unheard Ones coin, a refined capturing of the fire and fury of our live shows. Get you a band that can do both. We only played it first in our sets a handful of times, a bad logistical move to shred your guitar that hard first song, but folks remember us starting with it every time. I guess it hit that hard.”
Stories and Songs will be released on September 18 and is available for pre-order now at Handstand Records. It will be pressed on opaque red vinyl, limited to 500 copies, and housed in a four-color printed chipboard jacket that echoes the era. A 32-page zine-style booklet accompanies the record, packed with archival ephemera, photos, and writing contributions from notable musicians. Digital versions include three bonus live tracks, a practice recording, a Joy Division cover, and a PDF of the booklet.
