Secret History profiles classic D.C. albums as a way of looking back at the District’s contributions to music over time. This entry revisits Shudder to Think’s singular masterpiece, Pony Express Record (Epic, 1994).

Art rock isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind when folks think of D.C.’s musical output. Though plenty of District bands have pushed beyond straightforward rock structures to experiment with sounds and styles outside of their established zones of comfort, they’ve tended to remain grounded in the punk tradition and to shy away from the kind of flamboyant, intellectualized flourish common to bands like Blonde Redhead, Sonic Youth and other (mainly) NYC-based, Eno-inspired No Wavers.

Shudder to Think, on the other hand, fully embraced their arty side, blending D.C.’s patented full-bodied post-hardcore with a gorgeously glammy, decidedly dramatic, unashamedly arch aesthetic, balancing power and precision with naked sorrow and spontaneous joy. Theirs was a breathtaking sound, tightly wound riffs and stop-on-a-dime rhythms backing up the soaring, breathy vocals of singer/guitarist Craig Wedren, a man holding the deed to one of rock’s most instantly-recognizable voices. Beginning with 1989’s Curses, Spells, Voodoo, Mooses and ending five LPs later with 1997’s 10,000 B.C., Shudder to Think mapped their own course — on labels both indie and major — through the shifting rock landscape of the 1990s, sonic pioneers attempting to bring the truly alternative to the Alternative Nation.