Shudder to Think
at The Middle East Cafe
by Justin Hoben
Strange things were afoot at the Middle East on Thursday, September 22nd. Washington D.C.’s own Shudder to Think had become the spotlight attraction at an invitation-only gala sponsored by Calvin Klein and Rums of Puerto Rico, and presented by Interview Magazine. The fact that a former Dischord band had signed to a major label and put out a video on MTV did not shock me; Jawbox had done the same thing a few months ago. But Rums of Puerto Rico? Calvin Klein? When I talked to vocalist Craig Werden and guitarist Nathan Larson before their sound check, I asked if this meant we’d be seeing black and white photos of them in their underwear in the next issue of Esquire.
“Well, if it’s with Kate Moss,” Werden replied, “then, yes. But if it’s just with Nathan, I don’t think so.”
For Shudder to Think, relations with a major label have not been as evil and one-sided as some crowds assert.
“They’ve encouraged us to do whatever we want,” says Werden, “and so we do. I imagine that [the music industry] is still more of a fucked-up business than not. But our experience has been with more ‘new-minded’ people, so it’s been… nicely buffered.”
This was not my first time seeing Shudder to Think. They have an interesting habit of being more next-steppish with every tour they do. They’re definitely on a different musical level than almost every other band out there.
“Some of the songs took three years to write,” says Larson of their latest release from Epic, Pony Express Record. “There are lots of ‘parts’ of songs floating around and they find other ‘parts’ gradually.”
“It’s sort of an open-ended-puzzle-piece situation,” Wedren adds, “where none of the shapes look the same but they come together creating a really nice space: Interesting contrasts and juxtapositions.”
I managed to finagle a pass to the pre-show party, proceeding to take full advantage of the free food and free rum drinks. I even bumped elbows with some of the local elite (literally, not figuratively, of course. I’m just the kind of riff-raff invitation-only parties aim to keep out). Shudder to Think played a few tunes; more of a “this is what we sound like” for the big-wigs than a show. The real show wouldn’t start for a few more hours. I grabbed my complimentary sack of Calvin Klein/Puerto Rican Rum/Shudder to Think/Interview propaganda and wandered in the rain until Wedren and the boys took the stage at midnight.
It’s very rare nowadays to see a band that plays truly progressive music, a band that turns time scales into an abstract theory to be laughed at, and they manage to get the crowd rocking along with them nonetheless. Shudder to Think is a band that can actually compose anarchy and noise into a sweet, deep groove.
They played mostly new stuff, with Werden’s gentle falsetto slamming without warning into walls of guitar and feedback and then into serene and eerie brakes. At times it got so confusing and yet so enthralling that all I could do was close my eyes and nod in knowing approval. Their control of sound and timing was absolutely flawless, as were their segues from song to song. To sum up Shudder to Think’s performance (an encore that included “Day Ditty,” one of their all-time classics) in a word: DAMN.
If you missed them this time around, don’t worry; they’ll be back. In the meantime, check out Pony Express Record on Epic. It’s a bit of an acquired taste, but once you’ve acquired it, you won’t be sorry.
