Shop our Big Takeover store for back issues, t-shirts & CDs
Follow The Big Takeover
Shudder to Think
This week’s list is dedicated to SHUDDER TO THINK, who recently reunited almost a decade after their last album, came out. As a teenager, I was obsessed with them and in particular I gravitated towards their earlier material on Dischord Records. Here are 10 of my favorite songs of theirs along with the album or single they come from and some commentary. I know some readers will be disappointed that no songs from 1994’s Pony Express Record are included here. It’s not that I don’t like that record, but rather that I like the earlier period much more.
“Rag”
From 1989’s majestic Ten Spot, this song, like so many others on that album, confounded me when I first heard them back in 1992, though in the best way possible. I would play that record and Funeral at the Movies over and over again trying to discern what exactly lyricist and singer CRAIG WEDREN was talking about, all the while enjoying the imagery of the lyrics and soaking in the indelible memories.
“About Three Dreams”
Early on, SHUDDER TO THINK specialized in songs whose lyrics concern what read like bizarre dreams and this song, along with “Ride that Sexy Horse”, which memorably closes Funeral at the Movies, is exhibit A. “Cockroaches on the clocks and the cuckoos are all Jewish, I’m naked except for the plaid patch you’re stiching into my groin”. These are just sample lyrics, but I can’t do it justice. Just buy both Ten Spot and Funeral at the Movies if you don’t already have them.
“Vacation Brain”
This song always makes me think of not just vacations (obviously), but also of Big Takeover list member KIRSTIE SHANLEY since her namesake (well her first name anyway) is the subject of the song.
“Day Ditty”
Originally on Funeral at the Movies and by far the quietest and prettiest song on their early records, it was re-recorded for their 1998 album First Love, Last Rites (the soundtrack to the film of the same name) with ANGELA McCLUSKY on vocals. Although that version is OK, nothing beats the original!
“Crosstown Traffic”
From Funeral at the Movies, this is one of tne of the best cover versions I’ve ever heard, this is the equivalent of JIMI HENDRIX (who wrote this song) covering BOB DYLAN’s “All Along the Watchtower” and making it completely his own. Yeah, it’s that good. Actually, I think it’s better and it’s better than Hendrix’s version, too.
“Red House”
Cleverly starting off side 2 of Funeral at the Movies, this is another nod to Hendrix (“Crosstown Traffic” ends side 1) except that this time instead of the Hendrix song of the same name, this one is an original and once again, it actually betters the Hendrix song. All of the things that made Shudder to Think so great are here. There’s a clever instrumental build-up in the beginning, quiet/loud dynamics, a chorus that just explodes like rockets shot out of a cannon and of course Craig Wedren’s soaring falsetto taking full command. This is the sound of a band creating their own language by mixing up punk, glam and a touch of theater and going where no one had gone before and where no one’s really ventured since.
A re-recording showed up on the Hit Liquor EP and eventually on 1997’s 50,000 B.C., but it pales in comparison to the original.
“Shake Your Halo Down”
1992’s Get Your Goat, while not quite as stunning as its two predecessors, is still a great album and an essential purchase as well. This is its best song. There’s also a live version that was the B-side to the “X-French Tee Shirt” 7” on Sub Pop and that version is great, too.
“Pebbles”
This one, also from Get Your Goat, starts off with the line “Poor little girl screaming traffic in her hair” and repeats it a lot. I know. I don’t get it, either, but somehow it works. Really well.
“Beauty Strike”
From 1997’s overlooked 50,000 B.C., a more straightforward and poppier record than their breakthrough and the closest thing they ever had to a hit, 1994’s Pony Express Record (also their major-label debut). This track is perhaps the best example of the approach found on this album and others like the opener “Call of the Playground” and “All Eyes are Different” are clear winners on an otherwise good but inconsistent record.
“Take the Child”
Since I’ve been listing these songs in chronological order, I probably should’ve listed this song first since it comes off their very first album (1988’s Curses, Spells, Voodoo, Mooses). However, I chose to list it last because this album was out-of-print and very hard-to-find for many years. Therefore, I never heard it until Dischord reissued it (and SOUL SIDE’s equally hard-to-find and out-of-print Less Deep, Inside Keeps) in the early part of this decade. Although the album is nowhere near as strong as what would follow, it shows them already developing their sound and straying not just from punk orthodoxy, but even from the ambitious sounds of the amazing DC scene of that time period. This song, along with “Let It Ring” (which also appeared on the great compilation State of the Union), perhaps shows off that promise the most. There’s also an earlier version which appeared on their 1st release, the It Was Arson 7”, but the one on the album is a better recording.
