Album Review: Live From Home by Shudder To Think

For roughly ten years, mostly coinciding with the '90s, D.C.'s Shudder to Think made some of the most intelligent, intricate, and downright interesting indie rock around. Craig Wedren's delicate, borderline-falsetto '50s torch singer-wail hovered over dark novellas of three-minute songs which ranged from the jagged post-hardcore of "Hit Liquor" to the barroom garage punk of "X French T-Shirt" to the pure melodic joy of "Red House" (a near-pitch-perfect pop single which modern rock radio somehow slept on). It's the sort of wide span one might expect from a band who spent time both on Dischord and Sony Records.

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A new Polvo record. Jawbox reissues in the pipeline, and Sunny Day Real Estate reissues on the street. The just-announced Pavement reunion. The Jesus Lizard at the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival. And now, a new Shudder to Think live record? Nineties-me is totally stoked by the resurgence of decade ….

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How nice it must be to know that your band is remembered fondly by enough people to merit a couple of live reunion gigs. This is the situation that Shudder To Think’s Craig Wedren found himself in a decade after his band broke up. The reunited Shudder To Think -- Wedren on guitar and vocals backed by longtime members Stuart Hill and Kevin March and supplemented by noted indie session men Jesse Krakow and Mark Watrous -- played a small tour in the fall of 2008.

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In New York City earlier this month, a re-formed Shudder to Think played what might have been its last reunion show. This followed a 2008 tour that marked a ten-year period of inactivity for the band. Some reports from the New York show, which celebrated the release of Live from Home, reflected attendees’ dissatisfaction with the partial/incomplete lineup.

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