With their first proper tour in 17 years now underway, the reunited Shudder to Think are also unveiling some new music for the first time since Bill Clinton’s second term as president.
Per an Instagram post, the group is selling a seven-inch vinyl single with the songs “Thirst Walk” and “Playback” at the shows, which conclude Nov. 11 in Los Angeles. They’re also making it available for pre-order through longtime record label partner Dischord for a Nov. 7 release. It’s Shudder to Think first new music since the soundtrack for the 1998 movie Velvet Goldmine.
Beloved for its influential, unique blend of post-hardcore, alternative rock and glam, Shudder to Think returned to the stage in March with two performances for friends and family at Los Angeles’ tiny Permanent Records and also played Riot Fest in Chicago in September. The group’s current lineup includes frontman Craig Wedren, guitarist Nathan Larson, drummer Adam Wade, guitarist Clint Walsh and bassist Jherek Bischoff.
After emerging on Dischord with classics such as Funeral at the Movies and Get Your Goat, Shudder to Think signed to Epic and in 1994 released one of the strangest major-label debut albums of all time, Pony Express Record. Following an uneven response to its 1997 follow-up, 50,000 B.C., the band split up. But as Wedren told SPIN earlier this year, there was always a plan to complement the live shows with new music.
“We’re trying to do this in a very organic way that works for everybody’s individual lives and collective health,” he said. “We’re going to keep working on new music together in a room and each in our separate corners. We have shared ProTools sessions where we record demos together, but then everybody can tweak ideas on their own. It’s a more multi-dimensional, accordion-esque creative process rather than just being in a room, working on the song, playing the songs live and recording the songs. The intention is to hopefully have a record done within a year from now — next summer or fall or something like that. If it winds up being a series of EPs or singles, it doesn’t really matter. We just want to make new Shudder to Think music together, and we’re documenting it all.”
