Sonic Youth are their own reward. For all of the great bands that have been influenced by those still active greats (Pavement, Yo La Tengo, you name it), Sonic Youth mapped out an identity that is so iconoclastic, so satisfying in its own right, that they don't need acolytes to prove their greatness.

Nevertheless, acolytes there are, and perhaps there has never been one greater than the late, great Unwound. For as long as there was grunge, neo-punk, or whateverthehell you want to call it, there was Unwound. They produced a cadre of great albums, lauded by Trouser Press, and little else, and there you have it.

Now that they have gone the way of Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, and however many other bands that have made an indelible, influential mark, and then broken up due to death, creative differences, or simply drunken disputes over who gets royalties, I feel that it's time to sing the praises of Unwound's one undeniable masterpiece, their own Daydream Nation, the double LP Leaves Turn Inside You.

Unwound, for those of you not "in the know" (or the merely curious) were a power trio from the great Northwest that produced such better-known luminaries as Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, et al. But they were something different, a world apart, perhaps. Their MO was not so easily classified, by any means. Though their tunings and sonics were clearly inspired by the likes of Sonic Youth and various Krautrock entities, they clearly aspired to something different than any of the above. Leaves Turn Inside You is where their vision received its fullest outing.

Produced in their own studio, free from any semblance of label constraints, "Leaves" is a sprawling masterpiece. Simply put, there has never been a more inviting psychedelic epic than this album's "Terminus." Driving bass and drum rhythms, barely decipherable lyrics, gorgeous strings and, most of all, noisy guitars all point the way to a blissful Rhodes piano coda that is so divine as to provoke belief in a higher power, regardless of religious affiliation (their use of the "f" word, not withstanding). Simply put, it's bliss.

And so it goes. Citing further individual tracks is almost beside the point. From the first stacked overtones to the final nihilistic feedback, this album is one of the new millenniums' overlooked masterworks. At this point, if Sonic Youth produces an album this masterful, I'll tour behind them, selling tee-shirts gratis. Do a now-defunct band a favor, and begin an Unwound buying jag with this album - for my money, one of the certifiably greatest rock double albums of all time.