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The Shut-Ups grew out of the fevered mind of one Don Condescending, Atlanta poster boy for pop obsessive-compulsive disorder. While playing and singing in bands such as Lana Becomes A Man (from which two songs have been snarked for the Shut-Ups live set) during the '90s, Don was plotting the Shut-Ups solo album with producer Jason NeSmith (Casper Fandango). Years in the making, The Shut-Ups was finally released in 2001 by Lookit Meee! Records, and distributed by Imperial Fuzz.
It Hurts To Be Seen is the Shut-Ups' second album, and their first as a full band.
The new record features Don's new band, culled from Atlanta's finest. Ben Spraker (frontman of Athens' Ceiling Fan, ex-drummer Casper Fandango & The Cookies) contributes lead vocals and guitar work. Steve Libbey (aka Robotic Storm Cloud, owner of Imperial Fuzz) chips in with some guitar as well. Thaddeus Thompson (ex-Parks and Empty Spaces and regular on the Orange Hat hour) offers some tall bass. Drummer Darkis Knight (toured with Milli Vanilli, Billy Idol, Teena Marie and others, extra on several seasons of "E.R.") brings L.A. polish to the Shut-Ups rhythm section.
The album is full of exuberant pop anthems about sad stuff sung by people you can't trust. From the uber-everyman lover of "Various People," to the monarchist fanboy of "Edgar The Nothing (I Am)," It Hurts To Be Seen is populated with oddball characters grappling with the question of identity, either in transition or in extremis.
It Hurts To Be Seen rings with sounds from the pop netherworld, where Gary Numan, Adam Ant and Brian Wilson go head to head with Smokey Robinson and Sparks at a midnight bowling league, while Randy Newman and Stanley Kubrick keep score.
Don Condescending, the leader of the group, writes songs because he's utterly hopeless socially. He graduated from the University of Chicago law school in 2000, but forsook the practice of law for the practice of rock and roll. He recorded the Shut-Ups debut while finishing school.
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