Punk’s not dead; it’s just been avoiding hanging out with old friends on advice from its therapist.
At long last, Washington D.C. post-hardcore quartet Shudder to Think and Dischord Records have announced a reissue of their 1990 breakout Ten Spot. It’s due out January 19, and it shows that, although we’ve come a long way (i.e. 28 trips around the sun) from the days when folks cast aspersions for leaving independent labels for the majors, it’s still satisfying to root for the little guys.
In the ‘90s, Shudder to Think and Jawbox were the first bands to leave Dischord Records for the majors, and they were shat on widely by their hometown fans in the D.C. punk scene. Neither band was really all that punk in sound, and they each justified their choice by immediately making the best album of their career on their new labels. But still: it was the PRINCIPAL of the thing, right?
Welp, maybe. All those indie label diehards may have been proven right in the long view by the way Dischord has handled the band’s output for the label: periodically putting it back in print, dropping a previous two-records-on-one-CD reissue of Ten Spot and its successor, Funeral at the Movies. (I can’t tell if Shudder’s major label apex, 1994’s Pony Express Record, is exactly in or out of print? But…it definitely hasn’t been given the reverential kind of deluxe reissue treatment that the band’s Dischord output has received.)
So, yeah: fuck the majors. Pre-order the Ten Spot reissue — complete with new cover art courtesy of Heather Hendrix Russell — on blue vinyl + digital here and pat yourself on the back for remaining true to your scruples this whole time.
Ten Spot tracklisting:
01. Heaven Here
02. Jade-Dust Eyes
03. Rag
04. About Three Dreams
05. Speak
06. Corner Of My Eye
07. Summertime Train
08. On the Rain
09. Vacation Brain
10. Yes
11. Tony Told Me
More about: Shudder to Think
