Formed in 1991 in Olympia, Washington, Unwound developed their tumultuous and sublimely noisy sound in the shadows of the exploding grunge movement. Annexed to the less mainstream channels of indie releases, low-budget touring, and a circuit of basement and underground shows, Unwound still managed to create some of the more influential and lasting work of their era, with their cloudy moods and explosively tense group dynamics culminating in some truly transcendent albums.

The band broke up on April 1, 2002, leaving behind enormous amounts of material that would trickle out in the years to come on various live releases and collections. In 2013 the members of the band licensed their back catalog to the Numero Group, which set about work on a series of elaborate reissue box sets, each chronicling key periods in Unwound's development with extensive liner notes, unreleased material, and repackaging of their original albums.