The band's first lineup was Craig Wedren (vocals and guitar), Chris Matthews (guitar), Stuart Hill (bass) and Mike Russell (drums). In this incarnation, the band released two singles and one album (Curse, Spells, Voodoo, Mooses, 1989) before being signed by the Dischord label. Three albums were then released (Ten-Spot, 1990, Funeral at the Movies, 1991, and Get Your Goat, 1992), before the band gained greater exposure by touring with Fugazi and the Smashing Pumpkins.
Nathan Larson (guitars) and drummer Adam Wade replaced Matthews and Russell in 1994, immediately prior to a major-label contract with Epic with whom Pony Express Record was released in 1994. The album's angular, mathematical post-modernism earned it an intense cult-like following, marking the record as one of the most original punk albums to ever be released on a major label.
Over the next few years, Wedren successfully battled Hodgkin's Disease, Larson recorded an album with side project band Mind Science of the Mind and Wade left the group. His replacement was Kevin March, formerly drummer with Dambuilders.
Another album, 50,000 B.C. was released in 1997. The band also worked on music for soundtracks including First Love, Last Rites and High Art.
1998, the same year in which the band appeared on several tracks for the film Velvet Goldmine, saw Larson's departure and the subsequent demise of the group, which split that year. Wedren pursued a solo career, including an appearance on the Down to You soundtrack with Didn't Mean to Do You Harm, and contributed backing vocals to Verve Pipe's 1999 eponymous album.
Both Larson and Wedren have gone on to create highly-regarded film-music. Wedren also makes solo music, and has recently released his debut album, "Lapland", in 2005. Larson has formed a new band called Hot One.
Pebbles
Shudder To Think Lyrics
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The lyrics to Shudder To Think's song "Pebbles" paint a vivid picture of a young girl in distress. The repetition of the phrase "poor little girl screaming traffic in her hair" emphasizes the chaotic and overwhelming nature of her situation. The repeated question "Oh where'd mom go to?" creates a sense of abandonment and fear. This imagery is contrasted with the more subdued, but no less unsettling, scene of "candles swim[ming] low in the basement of one man's one-man home" and the intrusive presence of cameras taping someone approaching the door.
Taken together, these lyrics suggest a sense of dislocation and unease, as well as a sense of surveillance and violation. The girl's experience of being caught up in the rush of traffic and losing her mother is mirrored by the camera's invasive presence in the other scene. The repeated use of the phrase "poor little girl" perhaps underscores a sense of victimization, while the absence of agency or control implicit in the question "Oh where'd mom go to?" adds to the overall feeling of disorientation and confusion.
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