Shudder To Think - Pony Express Record

I can't remember exactly how old I was when I first heard this record, probably 15 or 16. I had a tough time during those years, as do most teenagers, and spent a lot of time on my own listening to records and reading about obscure releases that sounded interesting to me. It was the best way to deal with family, divorce, sexuality and insecurity, or at least it was for me, although it didn't solve any of my problems. That said, the loneliness of youth and not being popular is difficult for everyone, and doing something you like is a good way to establish your identity, but it certainly didn't help public opinion when directed to me, nor did it help that I didn't dabble in drugs or drinking, something everyone else in my podunk town did, and not because I was a goody two-shoes or anything, more because I hated not being in control of my faculties. So, the loneliness of my teenage years was supplemented by music like Prince Paul's Psychoanalysis, Foetus' Nail and Shudder To Think's Pony Express Record, easily one of the weirdest records to have been released on a major label in the nineties.

The easiest way to try and describe Pony Express Record is the sound of alien punk rockers channeling Freddie Mercury, seventies glam metal and avant-garde time signatures while trying to find words that sound good even though they don't understand exactly what they're saying. Another comparison would be The Monks' Black Monk Time, but only in concept. If you're not familiar with The Monks, they were American soldiers stationed in Germany that formed a rock band in their free time. They wanted to sound like The Beatles, but they had never heard their music so they made music they thought fit the descriptions they'd heard and read of The Beatles and their contemporaries. Basically, alien punk rockers channeling what they thought was hip but accidentally creating a new style of music.

The funny thing about Pony Express Record is if you compare Shudder To Think's music before and after it's release, it sounds practically nothing like anything else they ever did. Shudder To Think were members of the DC punk scene, a scene they didn't necessarily fit into from the start, but for their major label debut they did the unthinkable and took their sound even further away from their already unique style. Craig Wedren's vocals made even less sense, with his words chosen more for their sound than message, while Nathan Larson riffed on bizarre time-signatures. The whole band was intense, but Wedren and Larson were the dynamic duo as crazy freaks, creating two note songs like X-French Tee Shirt about god-knows-what and freaking people out.

I didn't like this album the first time I listened to it. It was a lot to swallow and not easy to determine where it was coming from. I bought it first in a used bin for a dollar, traded it back in, bought back the same copy for a dollar, traded it back in and did this at least three more times before I couldn't find a copy any longer. A few years passed before I purchased a digital copy and eventually I found an original US CD in mint condition that I've held onto since. I guess you don't know what you've got until it's gone, and that was the case time and time again with Pony Express Record. The album has made much more sense the older I've gotten, although I wouldn't say it's gotten easier to listen to. Like that friend you love but can't let get too close to you, I can't leave this album again, but that doesn't mean I can listen to it whenever.

If you haven't heard Pony Express Record, give it a chance. I've read a lot of things about it's mythical status but most of the time I think they're wrong. Pony Express Record is the sound of Shudder To Think trying to see how far they could go, prepared to destroy themselves in the process. It's remembered for it's brave experimentalism, but the songs, as strange as they may be, are pretty damn great. Just be prepared not to like it the first time you listen to it. It has to get under your skin before you realize how special it really is. Kind of like being a teenager in high school, it's that moment where you try to show your truest colors and a lot of people might write you off, but you do it because you want to be true to yourself. As long as you're not telling everyone that you have sexy thoughts about cadavers or something equally vulgar, someone will remember you as long as you're true to yourself. And just like that, people remember Shudder To Think positively now, something I wish they would have seen when Pony Express Record came out.


Shudder To Think - Pony Express Record

01 Hit Liquor
02 Gang Of $
03 9 Fingers On You
04 Sweet Year Old
05 Earthquakes Come Home
06 Kissi Penny
07 X-French Tee Shirt
08 No RM. 9 Kentucky
09 Chakka
10 Own Me
11 So Into You
12 Trackstar
13 Full Body Anchor


PS - I hope you made it through this ramble of a post. It's weird, I've been trying to write this one for two weeks and have felt aimless. I hope this one doesn't bore you to death. Also, I'm breaking my rule by sharing this album since it is available for purchase digitally. If you love the music and want to support the band, please purchase a download of the album at iTunes or Amazon, I know the band would appreciate it.