Photo credit: Diona Mavis
Post-hardcore art rock pioneers, Shudder to Think, have just released their take on Depeche Mode’s “Something To Do,” with a music video. It comes ahead of their first project in almost three decades, the three-song Who Sent You EP, coming September 11th, via Dischord Records. Watch it below.
Pre-save Who Sent You here: https://linktr.ee/shuddertothinkofficial
Of the cover, Shudder to Think share:
“For some of us, the album ‘Some Great Reward’ by Depeche Mode represents the pinnacle of their brilliance and creativity. Not that they didn’t make insanely wonderful music – singles and albums both – after that, but SGR was the crescendo of their first phase, where indelible pop hooks collided with kid-in-candy-store synth experiments, and impossible yearning fumbled with the bra clasps of the blackest bedroom malaise. After that, their albums became more mature and refined, less messy.”
“There’s a garish audacity to Some Great Reward that perfectly soundtracked a kind of suburban teenager, wild on the inside, about to burst, misunderstoooood, romantic as fuck. The song “Something To Do” kicks off the album, and it’s a semi-forgotten (relative to other DM singles), under-appreciated banger about being young, angsty, bored, and horny (“put your leather boots on”) in an old, run down industrial town. It’s about being miserable and making your own fun – dangerous and thrilling, but in that young way where consequences haven’t yet revealed themselves (those would come on later DM records).”
“When we were making the new Shudder album, “Something To Do” came on the (satellite) radio and jogged Craig’s sense-memory back to sixteen, on a family trip to Israel, in love and hate with everyone and everything, candy-flipping the cassette in his Walkman from Some Great Reward to XTC’s English Settlement and the great Dukes Of Stratosphere. A girl named Robin and a girl named Julie.. Anyway, we HAD to cover it.”
“So, minutes after finishing basic tracks for the final song on the album, we quickly learned its structure and let it rip, maybe three takes, no corrections. Our pal (and Craig’s brother-in-law), the great Thomas Lennon, happened to be visiting and stood in a circle with us while we threw it down. Tom’s a big Depeche Mode fan and a big Shudder To Think fan, so his energy and enthusiasm completed the circuit and gave us just the energy we needed. Often at the end of a project there’s magic gunk left at the bottom of the fuel tank, like potent resin at the bottom of the bowl. This was that.”
The band will also celebrate the release of Who Sent You with a sold-out show in Philadelphia, kicking off a rare three-date run that will also stop in New York City and Los Angeles, with Miss Grit supporting both East Coast dates. The shows are the band’s only live appearances of 2026 and will feature songs from the new EP alongside fan favorites and “Thirst Walk” and “Playback” – the band’s 7” that sold out quickly. It has now been repressed and will be available at the upcoming shows and select record stores. Tickets are on-sale here: https://linktr.ee/shuddertothinkofficial
Shudder to Think Fall 2026 tour dates:
Sep 11 – First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA* – SOLD OUT
Sep 12 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY*
Sep 20 – The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery – Los Angeles, CA
*support from Miss Grit
In 2024, Shudder to Think celebrated the 30th anniversary of their groundbreaking 1994 album Pony Express Record – their first album on Epic Records, following several releases on Dischord Records. The band’s current lineup features Pony Express Record-era bandmates Craig Wedren on lead vocals, Nathan Larson on guitar, and Adam Wade on drums alongside Clint Walsh on guitar and Jherek Bischoff on bass.
By the late-90’s, Shudder to Think dove into the world of scoring films and creating music for soundtracks with the 1998 releases of Jesse Peretz’s First Love, Last Rites; Lisa Cholodenko’s High Art and the Todd Haynes epic, Velvet Goldmine. Wedren and Larson have gone on to be prolific film and television composers with Wedren working on Yellowjackets, Wet Hot American Summer, The School Of Rock, Laurel Canyon and more; and Larson working on Our Idiot Brother, The Skeleton Twins, Juliet, Naked and High Fidelity (TV series), among others.
Who Sent You tracklisting:
01 – Who Sent You?
02 – Something To Do
03 – Release The Ball
Check out pur interview with Craig Wedren:
Follow Shudder to Think:
https://www.shuddertothinkofficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/shuddertothinkofficial
https://www.instagram.com/shuddertothinkofficial/