A long time friend turned me on to #shuddertothink back in 1994 upon the release of this CD. The album and band are growers not showers. This is richly textured post-punk prog rock. Mind bending time signatures and changes with obtuse and awesome lyrics sung in a falsetto vibrato. (Man I am on an adjective roll here). Upon first listen I wasn't sure what I was listening to but the song "x-french tee shirt" rides a single chord and is a catchy as hell intro point. I listened to the song over and over again eventually spreading out into the rest of the disc. Now 22 years after it's release it's still a favorite of mine. My buddy and I caught the band on their tour for the album, they played at the showplace theatre. We were psyched! They took the stage and I remember them kicking ass. During a break between songs the singer/guitarist Craig singled out my friend and I remarking about how if we changed places the show would be different. It was arty and unsettling to me. I was a very self-conscious 22 year old and it kind of freaked me out. I slowly melted back into the crowd to avoid further interaction. Now as a 44 year old grizzled music fan I am so embarassed and regretful of not embracing that night and the performance-as-art experience. The band was on their creative peak at that time and would break up after releasing a rather shocking follow up album. It seems so funny to me now after going to hundreds of shows and performing in dozens that this interaction would have messed with me so much. It could have been such a cool thing had I embraced it. It's rare now that live music really entrances me the way it used to, there are still shows I've attended recently that whisk me away into the experience but they seem rarer and rarer.
The other thing I've noticed about this record is that Rush fans love it. The inverse isn't necessarily true though. Take that how you like.
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