What do you think the high muckity mucks at Epic Records heard in Shudder To Think when they signed them in 1993/1994? What about this arty post-hardcore band said, "It's the next Nirvana!"?
None of this is to denigrate the beloved DC quartet. I really love StT, especially "Pony Express Record". I just like putting myself into the shoes of an early 90s A&R and trying to figure how a band like this, so distinctive in their mix of mid-80s proto emo, glam, 60s psychedelica, and bubblegum pop, would work on a larger stage. It hurt my head hearing "Hit Liquor" and "X-French Tee Shirt" on HFS in 1994; both singles really stood out in a landscape of Live, Veruca Salt, Oasis, and Weezer. Of course I loved it; I was a 16-year-old virgin who stayed home on Fridays taping songs off the radio. But their signing, even with the continued work that Craig Wedren does on soundtracks 26 years later, still strikes me as a wild, wonderful swing.
It's interesting to me, listening to Shudder to Think on YouTube while writing, that the next band to appear was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Has the algorithm gotten so strong as to be able to make the sonic comparison between Nathan Larson's and Nick Zinner's guitar work? Is there a thru line that I've just missed until today?
"Your Choice Live 021" was the only recorded output from the StT lineup of Wedren, Nathan Larson, Stuart Hill, and Mike Russell. Larson had joined a few months prior to this recording from Swiz, and following this tour and their departure from Dischord, Adam Wade would replace Russell and join on drums from Jawbox. This is a great sounding document of Shudder to Think's catalog from the Dischord days, mixing tracks from 1991's "Funeral at the Movies" and 1992's "Get Your Goat". And it's inexpensive! You can probably snag one for less than $10 on a good day.
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