The Secret History series features profiles of classic D.C. albums as a way of looking back at the vibrant District music scene. This time around, we appreciate the second far-reaching indie-pop offering from Eggs, Teenbeat 96 Exploder (Teenbeat, 1994).

D.C.’s music scene has always been bigger and more diverse than the iconic hardcore and post-hardcore communities that for many have defined the city, and one needs look no further than Eggs for proof. A pioneering indie-pop outfit in the mold of Unrest, Eggs specialized in exploratory stylistic experimentalism and sonic dalliance, dipping their toes into post-punk, chamber pop, folk, stadium rock, prog and electronica while refusing to be pinned down.

Initially hatched by vocalist/guitarist Andrew Beaujon and drummer Johnathan Rickman in Richmond, Virginia, Eggs were a natural fit for the eclectic Teenbeat roster and helped expand the boundaries of the Clinton-era D.C. sound. Their sprawling second LP, 1994’s double album Teenbeat 96 Exploder (so-named because it was number 96 in the Teenbeat catalog), delivered on the promise of Eggs’ 1992 Teenbeat debut Bruiser. It’s a highly ambitious statement, embracing loads of influences and combining them all into one blissed-out, 24-track magnum opus. Featuring guitarist/trombonist Rob Christiansen, bassist Evan Shurak, and a rotating cast of drummers, Exploder is one of the most unique releases in the annals of D.C. indie rock.

Rickman describes Eggs’ formation in Richmond and subsequent relocation to D.C. “Andrew and I started Eggs together circa 1990 when we were both at Virginia Commonwealth University. We just happened to sit next to each other in a math lab. Naturally, we bonded over Unrest, he being a close friend of the band and I being a big fan and having just a year prior interviewed Unrest for a fanzine I had at the time called Strange Noise…. After we had been playing for a year or so, with ex-Unrest bassist Dave Park and French horn player Marriane McGee, Andrew graduated from VCU and moved back home to NoVa. At the same time, I transferred to American University.”

At which point, Shurak and Christiansen entered the fold.

“John met Evan Shurak [at AU],” recalls Beaujon, “who started playing bass with us because our original bassist, Dave Park, stayed in Richmond. Rob Christiansen just sort of started showing up and never left.”