In a way,
Shudder to Think's debut album,
Curse, Spells, Voodoo, Mooses, sounds almost as groundbreaking as
R.E.M.'s
Murmur. They were working with a different template for sure, but both bands grafted disparate influences to a strong sense of
power pop.
Shudder skewed their
pop brilliance with
Ric Ocasek grooves, a
Bowie and (especially)
Roxy Music glam bent (
"A Vampire's Proposal," for example), and the theatrics of
Queen. It was entirely incongruous with the music of the time, the music of the D.C.
hardcore scene that the band emerged from, and especially the
grunge that would come to dominate underground music shortly after this record's release. Of course, the group had their contemporaries, particularly in dark outfits like
the Afghan Whigs and
Urge Overkill, and they did bear some resemblance to
Jane's Addiction (albeit minus the
Led Zeppelin). But songs like the grinding, sugary
"Abysmal Yellow Popcorn Wall" probably resonate most closely with
Here Come the Warm Jets-era
Eno. And what a spectacularly contagious influence to return to independent music in 1989!
Curse doesn't reach the feeling of unwavering confidence that's present in, say,
Get Your Goat or
Pony Express Record (though it's superior to their sophomore effort,
Ten Spot), but
Craig Wedren still stretches his idiosyncratic voice on tracks like
"Touch," and the crunchy guitars on
"Let It Ring" are both ominous and inspiring. With its re-release,
Curse, Spells, Voodoo, Mooses appears to hold up better nearly 15 years after its initial release than it did at the time. [Also included on the reissue: the original diamond-in-the-rough 7" -- with a very different
"Abysmal Yellow Popcorn Wall" -- and a previously unreleased version of
"Take the Child".] ~ Charles Spano
