Shudder To Think To Reunite
Back in the day, a friend of mine had a great "Red House" karaoke routine he'll hopefully resuscitate now that Shudder To Think are heading on the road for the first time in a decade. We had Barack Rock, a Mercury Lounge set, and vocalist/guitarist Craig Wedren's new solo material, guest blogging, and "Suffragette City," but this is a different monster. Wedren, Nathan Larson, and drummer Kevin March (Pony Express Record drummer Adam Wade's doing the west coast dates) are being joined by Gosling's Mark Watrous on guitar and bassist Jesse Krakow (Time Of Orchids) for a fall tour. No sign of Stuart Hill, Chris Matthews, or Mike Russell, but we do have the dates:
08/10 - Baltimore, MD @ V Fest
09/05 - Chicago, IL @ Park West
09/06 - Toronto, ON @ V Fest
10/03 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of the Living Arts
10/04 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/11 - Boston, MA @ Paradise
10/25 - New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Music Festival
11/01 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey
11/02 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
In the press release, Larson noted, "We're gonna get up and play the old shit for ya ... If anybody can send me guitar tabs for the Pony Express material, I'd greatly appreciate it." Pony is cool, but I'm thinking Ten Spot, Get Your Goat, and Funeral At The Movies. It might seem like a strange time to get back together, but in the aforementioned press release Wedren notes:
Our music is continuing to seep out, like syrup from a tree or the remains of a sweet, sticky picnic. Every day, new people -- many too young to have caught us during the first go-round -- are contacting us after 'discovering' our music. I'm constantly meeting people who feel the same way about our music that we do, and it makes me feel indescribably good. This tour is our way of saying "thank you."
As much as I love Shudder To Think, this tour is also their way of saying 2008 is the year nostalgia rules the music industry. Still, even I'm not cynical enough to let that quash my excitement. A refresher.
Posted at 5:03 PM by brandon
Tags: Craig Wedren | Nathan Larson | Shudder To Think
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Actually, Nathan was not Shudder's original guitarist. Chris Matthews was the original guitarist. Also, Mike Russell was the original drummer before Adam.
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Yeah, you're right. Fixed. I should have pulled out the records and double checked. Have always paid more attention to songs than names. Thanks for the info...
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Way overrated band. "So Into You" is their only great song. I'm holding out for a Helium or (full-blown) Chavez reunion.
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I don't know, man, those early records are great. Though, to be honest, I'd be more excited about a full-blown Jawbreaker reunion right about now.
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Or better yet, full-blown D-Plan reunion!
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I'm kinda the opposite -- I like a few of the older songs, but generally dislike the indie records, and ADORE Pony Express, 50,000 BC, and the assorted stuff they did around that time.
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i was at the dplan reunion show last year. it was awesome. however the best dc reunion of them all (excluding fugazi from the discussion) would be a Q AND NOT U reunion.
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i vote jawbox.
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In hindsight, it was very weird to see these guys open for Pavement during their Brighten the Corners tour back in '97.
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how can a band be overrated if they were never rated? they were booed when they opened for pavement. they were too glammy and awesome by the time anyone noticed them. trust me, never overrated. but still, a great band, and I hope to catch them.
also, so into you is a cover of atlanta rhythm section. I will take an end to end playing of the last two records. I am less interested in their first two records.
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We didn't boo them here in Philly, but we were definitely confused by their presence on the tour.
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i got into them when pony express came out and still think that was their shining moment. revisiting their dischord stuff recently made me realize how horrible those records sound and how much they couldve used a proper producer and mixer...ted nicely sucked.
that said, i sure aint going to webster hall to see craig wank it up.
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Being more interested in hearing the pre-Pony Express stuff doesn't even make sense to me. It's like wanting to see Radiohead focus on the Pablo Honey material. The pre-Larsen S2T had a few decent songs, but they were kind of typical Dischord-style indie rock of the time with an idiosyncratic vocalist. After Larsen joined, they got much weirder and much better.
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i think the argument for old stt vs. the later stuff is a little subjective. sure the later stuff sounded better/weirder, but if you were 15 years old and living in dc in 1990...funeral at the movies would have blown you away (like it did me) regardless of the production quality. without those early records there would've been no sunny day real estate, d-plan, etc...
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Wow. You just made my day!
Shudder To Think was amazing, right up to 50,000 B.C. They kinda lost me on that one, but everything prior was golden in my book, and Pony Express Record still stands as a brilliant, brilliant piece of work. I enjoy Craig and Nathan's solo stuff, too...the Takeaway Show with Craig was great as well...
As for reunions, Jawbox...yes, please. D-Plan as well. And howabout the Jesus Lizard while you're at it?
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Grandpa here!
This is great news indeed. First ime I saw Shudder was ninteen naughty-2 at the The Grand in NYC. This was right after Russell had left and they were already playing HIT Liquor live. Great show. I was able to meet Shudder on 2 different occasion after that. Once outside a bar in NYC. My friend was on the staff for the Fordham Observer and interviewd them. (I have pictures). I also had the privelage of going to the video premier for the X French T-shirt Video. The band was sitting a row in front of me. I hope I am lucky enough to score a ticket for this.
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holy shit! My favorite band ever! Growing up in Eastern Ky meant I never got to see them... I never thought this would happen! Gonna be in NYC definitely
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