Kustom Karnal Blackxploitation is the fifth studio album by Washington, D.C. indie band Unrest, released on February 15, 1990, by Caroline Records. The band supported the album with a North American tour.
In a mixed review, Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post wrote:
A retrospective review in Pitchfork remarked "in this world there exist precious few bands, past or present, that are as fearlessly experimental as Unrest -- and even fewer who would dare issue so many experiments on one album. Can you imagine if Jim O'Rourke released a record that contained his early tape-manipulation work, avant-garde guitar strangling, minimalist orchestral pieces, and a few songs from his current Bacharach-worship period? It'd be pretty fucked up, and maybe even mind-blowing, but definitely not very listenable. Which sums up Kustom Karnal Blackxploitation excellently."
A positive retrospective review in AllMusic said "for the D.C. post-punk scene of the late '80s to early '90s, few groups were as wildly experimental as Unrest. The string of albums on Teenbeat were scarcely fathomable at the time, and many post-punk fans were polarized into two camps, one half left scratching their heads in wonder while the other praised this new life injected into the genre. [...] While the titles "Chick Chelsea Delux" and "She Makes Me Shake Like a Soul Machine" may be deceptive, these are deliciously affecting melancholic pop tunes that indicate the direction the group took on their next album -- the elaborate pop of Imperial f.f.r.r.."
Reviewing a reissue of the album, the Winnipeg Sun wrote that frontman Mark Robinson "shows he was a precursor to both Pavement and [Jon] Spencer, spitting out songs that toggle between the skewed eccentricity of the former and the garage-rawk skronk of the latter... If you're looking for the missing link between Slanted and Enchanted and OrangeâÂÂand we'll presume those titles ring a bellâÂÂUnrest should be on your want list."
Adapted from the Kustom Karnal Blackxploitation liner notes.