Thinking Fellers Union Local 282

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282

Lovelyville

Bulbous Monocle

***First time reissue. Has been out of print for over 30 years! Original release on Matador Records (1991). Audio remaster from original master tapes. 'The Thinking Fellers' third LP, the second released on vinyl, the first released on Matador Records, the first to include former Glorious Din guitarist and World of Pooh drummer Jay Paget (if only on the opening track), the first to showcase Mark Davies' baritone horn and Brian Hageman's viola, and the first where the band's live and recorded sound sharply diverged, Lovelyville is transitional in just about every sense and yet somehow feels like their most characteristic work. It's also perhaps the tightest and tensest of all their albums. For all its energy it feels constrained, like a clock wound almost to the point where its spring comes undone. Unusually for a big-label debut, Lovelyville concedes nothing to anything or anybody outside the band's collective sensorium. Where less gloriously self-directed artists might've written a series of variations on Tangle's college-radio showpiece 'Sister Hell,' the Fellers pushed further in the direction of perplexing audio obstacle courses like 'What Time Is It?' and 'Sports Car'; even ostensible pop songs like 'Nail in the Head' have more in common with Piero Umiliani, Ennio Morricone and 1960s easy listening than they ever did with anyone's concept of 'indie rock.' That's also largely true of the album's production. More so than on previous releases, the studio is a tool that the band and their many-tentacled engineer and producer Greg Freemen pushed...

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282

Tangle

Bulbous Monocle

Originally released in 1989 on the band’s own Thwart Productions label, Tangle was the first vinyl release from Thinking Fellers Union Local 282. Coming after their debut cassette, Wormed, By Leonard, it shows the band leapfrogging stylistically into a more mature phase of their patented surreal compositional modus operandi. Tracks like the opener, "Sister Hell," foreshadow the band's later evolutionary mutations and was a minor hit in the underground circuit at the time. The rest of the album is a sleek maelstrom of crackpot dissonance, noise-rock power balladry, schizo-telepathic improv and some of the finest underground music of the era. In short, Tangle is a template and Proclamation of Intent that presages TFUL's classic 90s releases. Originally produced by their longtime engineer and thaumaturge, Greg Freeman, this reissue is impeccably remastered from the original master tapes by Mark Gergis. New and contemporary artwork ties a saucy bow around this astonishing reissue.  LIMITED EDITION OF 500 COPIES!

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282

The Funeral Pudding

Bulbous Monocle

The Funeral Pudding originally came out as a CD-only release on the Dutch label Brinkman to promote Thinking Fellers Union Local 282’s 1994 European tour. For the domestic release, the band chose Chicago’s Ajax Records—which had already released two TFUL282 singles in 1990—to press a 12-inch mini-LP. Comprising a selection of songs masterfully recorded and produced by Greg Freeman right after the sessions that yielded 1993’s Admonishing The Bishops EP, The Funeral Pudding could be thought of as a sister release to that EP; indeed, the band originally considered combining tracks from both sessions into a single album. Had it been released, that record would’ve followed the pattern of the previous album in which the band’s pop and avant-garde leanings are yoked together cheek by jowl. Instead, Admonishing showcases the band at its most accessible while The Funeral Pudding flaunts their more expansive, abrasive and absurdist side without forfeiting the earlier EP’s miraculously high standards for songwriting and sonic clarity. What makes The Funeral Pudding a unique feather in the Fellers’ cap is that most of the tracks are sung by bassist Anne Eickelberg and guitarist Hugh Swarts—a notable departure from the Davies / Hageman vocal dominance on most of the other albums. With Eickelberg’s soaring vocals leading the proceedings, tracks like “Waited Too Long” and “Heavy Head” are some of the most beloved in the band’s discography. And “23 Kings Crossing” is a whiplash-inducing psych / prog stunner that adds another metric ton to the burden of proof...

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282

These Things Remain Unassigned

Bulbous Monocle

Bulbous Monocle focuses its lens further into the legacy and archives of the Thinking Fellers Union Local 282. These Things Remain Unassigned—a phrase coined by Brian Hageman, one of the band’s musical snake appendages emanating from its Medusa crown—is presented as a double LP (gatefold jacket with a twelve page libretto). It gathers together the band’s singles, compilation tracks, outtakes and never before released gems encompassing the arc of TFUL’s musical corpus. Every track has been surgically remastered by Mark Gergis (Porest / Sublime Frequencies / Mono Pause) with his signature craftsman approach. This collection is an auditory and visual feast. The extensive booklet included features band ephemera, concert flyers, photographs, and commentary about each track from Mark Davies. Beyond the rare singles and unreleased tracks from the TFUL archives, are cover versions from such disparate artists and composers as Ennio Morricone, Krzysztof Komeda, The Residents, The Shaggs, Caroliner Rainbow and Pérez Prado. “…In addition to these compilation one-offs, there were also a few studio recordings that were never quite completed or released. Throw in an alternate mix or two and the handful of singles that came out on various labels over the years, and you end up with what I feel works well as its own body of work, a bunch of adopted oddballs that somehow fit together as a family. I hope youʼll agree with me that these things are now no longer unassigned, but part of a somewhat cohesive whole, stitched together into something mysterious and...