Band Review: Shudder to Think

I wrote this completely corny review yesterday, and I am a little self-conscious about it, but whatever. I'm corny! I don't care. I'm seeing Shudder to Think tonight and I couldn't be more thrilled. So, enjoy! -n

In my teenage years, one of my favorite hobbies was to stay up all night watching MTV. This could happen any night, and occasionally fell in a Sunday, when they used to have a show called “120 Minutes.” It was an amalgam of what was considered “alternative” music, back when that genre was still relatively new. It was on one of these beloved night/mornings that I discovered a band that would change my life forever: Shudder to Think. The video was for “X-French T-shirt” on what remains my favorite album, Pony Express Record. And from the moment Craig Wedren’s voice poured out of those shitty RCA television speakers and started to Shake My Halo Down, I knew I was in love, and that nothing would ever be the same again.

When they broke up, it made me Grow Cold. I had finally been able to procure all of their albums, thanks largely to a used record store in Reading called “Warrior Music” – I hope that, somewhere, my old Saab still has their “Screw Corporate America!” bumper sticker I so affectionately placed on there – and they broke up. I was devastated, certain that it was The Saddest Day of My Life. I continued listening to them, and they remained my favorite band, despite the many bands that have ebbed and flowed in and out of my eclectic musical taste.

Then I heard The Call of the Playground: they were getting back together for a reunion tour. No way! It can’t be! I could not believe these Lies About the Sky. I, of course, bought tickets to both the Philadelphia and New York shows, determined to see them as much as I possibly could. I’ve been listening daily to every Day Ditty, and suddenly, this morning, while listening to “Just Really Wanna See You” from the First Love, Last Rites soundtrack, it hit me like a Love Catastrophe: I’m going to see Shudder to Think tomorrow.

Tomorrow night, I am going to walk into the TLA and see them perform, live, and I will most likely sob my heart out the entire show. Tomorrow, I am going to be in the same room as Craig Wedren and he is going to perform the songs that have helped me to get through some of my most awkward and painful moments. Tomorrow, I’m going to hear, in person, some of the words that, like the loving grip of a friend, squeezed my hand in my time of need. Tomorrow, my dear Earthquakes will Come Home. And I’m sorry to anyone who tries to love me ever again, for I am So Into You, Shudder to Think: you Own Me.