Thinking Fellers Union Local 282: S & D, C or D...

From what I've heard of them, the one disc of theirs you MIGHT destroy (if you must) would be _Strangers..._.

They've a new album on Communion. Really long, annoying title. Their previous album (_I Hope It Lands_) is my favorite. Similar to stuff like "Cup of Dreams", "Noble Experiment", "The Piston & The Shaft".

And their older Matador releases (_Lonelyville_, _Mother of All Saints_) are snazzy, too. I've heard their BEST release is the _Admonishing the Bishops_ EP (also on Matador).

But you can't go wrong.

The latest one, "Celebrity Avalanche, etc. etc." would be the best introduction, then work backwards from there..

Yeah, the combo of "Admonishing The Bishops" and "The Funeral Pudding" EPs from 1993 would comprise of the best of their work, IMHO

But alas, "Lovelyville" is their best one, me thinks. For "More Glee" alone. (though "Tangle" comes close)

I agree with the point of view that elevates "Lovelyville" and the EPs, and recommends "Mother of All Saints" for later down the road. I think "Strangers from The Universe" is excellent as well.

seconding brian's comment here, especially if "Strangers" is your favorite (mine too). every album has at least a few indelible pop moments though. and live, they were (& probably remain) untouchable, one of the best things about living in the bay area in the 90's.

I remember seeing them open for Negativland in 87 at Gilman Street.

Saw 'em at CBGBs in 1990 or 1991 - they were touring behind Tangle. My friend and I were standing by the pool table talking as their set began (they were about the third band on a bill of about eight, and they weren't who we were there to see). We weren't paying much attention, but about three songs in we both stopped talking and looked at each other like, "What the fuck is that band doing?" and headed stageward, and were enraptured for the rest of their set. My friend bought Tangle and a T-shirt afterward. Instant win-over. I bought Lovelyville when it came out, but kinda lost track of them after that.

Yes, great band! I saw them about 10 times, the most memorable was the "un-guitar" clinic they put on at the Great American Music Hall in SF with Polvo and The Fucking Champs.

...which started playing 2 seconds later as the encore.

o well.

Best show was an unannounced art shack show in Oakland just underneath a BART station in December of 1999. They went all over the place. So did some of the audience members.. sans clothes. It was a revelry.

(This is where I drunkenly introduced myself to a guy named Bob and slapped him on the shoulder and just made a lot of drunk talk with him, without him talking much back and seeming a bit scared, and only found out later that it was Bob of *Shellac* that I gave the noogie to. oops.)

http://www.japan-overseas.com/eng/release-e/JO96-19vE.html

When I put "2x4s" on my MP3 blog a few months ago, it got a lot of "holy crap, who's THAT?!?" responses.

ihttp://www.tful282.com/images/mpc1.html

Douglas excellently summarized the Fellers in the last Trouser Press book:

Read up: http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=thinking_fellers_union_local_282

And search the following:

THINKING FELLERS UNION LOCAL 282 
Wormed by Leonard [tape] (Thwart) 1988 [CD] (Thwart) 1995
Tangle (Thwart) 1989 (Can. Scratch) 1994
The Natural Finger EP7 (Ajax) 1991
Lovelvville (Matador) 1991
Mother of All Saints (Matador) 1992
Where's Officer Tuba? (UK Hemiola) 1993
Admonishing the Bishops EP (Matador) 1993
The Funeral Pudding EP (Ajax) 1994
Strangers From the Universe (Matador) 1994
Porcelain Entertainments (Ger. Return to Sender/Normal) 1995
TFUL282 (Japan. Japan Overseas) 1995
I Hope It Lands (Communion) 1996
Bob Dinners and Larry Noodles Present Tubby Turdner's Celebrity Avalanche (Communion) 2001
WHITE SHARK
Muggy Bog EP10 (Nuf Sed) 1994
MR. HAGEMAN
Twin Smooth Snouts (Starlight Future Company) 1995
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Not All That Terrifies Harms [tape] (Nuf Sed) 1990
Not All That Terrifies Harms EP7 (Ajax) 1991
Step, Step, Steppin' on Satan's Foot (Tedium House) 1994

Oh yeah, the slap key guitar stuff was great. And there was an earlier 7" by him of tape loopy delay recordings under the name Brown Supper (or Brown Food?)

# 2 - Gentleman's Lament
# 3 - Catcher
# 4 - Hornet's Heart
# 5 - Star Trek
# 6 - Tell Me
# 8 - Hive
# 9 - Hummingbird In a Cube of Ice
# 11 - Wide Forehead
# 12 - Infection
# 18 - 1" Tall*
# 19 - Raymond H.
# 21 - Cistern
# 22 - El Cerrito**

So classic. I have most of the albums, but I'm always drawn back to Strangers From the Universe. ...and Funeral Pudding. Never had the chance to see them live, except in 1996 and I blew it. Listened more recently to some live shows from earlier in the 90s and was amazing at how loud they could be and how quickly they could shift gears, even mid-song. Why in the world are their Matador albums out of print?

Crazy. People just aren't in the mood for 90s music right now, myself included.

Listened more recently to some live shows from earlier in the 90s and was amazing at how loud they could be and how quickly they could shift gears, even mid-song.

I saw them live in 1994. Easily the best show I saw that year in a year of pretty decent live shows.

it's on Wormed By Leonard iirc, also on the 4-song "best of" 7" sampler from that album that Ajax put out in like '92 (The Natural Finger).

I was thinking a little bit more today about those "difficult" pieces on MOAS. Although I appreciate the pared-down song-oriented tracklist someone posted in this (or the other) thread, the spacing of those tracks really helps with the sequencing and overall epic flow of the record.. I think that at the time there was some criticism of teh "practice room" pieces in the press but it was also kind of a statement of purpose by the band. At any rate, "Tuning Notes" has perversely become one of my fave tracks from that record as the years have gone by. It's just such a perfect window into their world, a distillation of the practice room experience.

Awww man, my favorite radio station is rocking "The Operation" right now. Doubly sweet that it was preceded by Wire's "Mercy". TFUL282 rules so hard, happy Friday to me!

"The Operation" rules so hard

Yeah, so so good.

amazing full show from 1994:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBfO4FRA6ps

I really love some of TFUL282's lyrics. Really evocative and intriguing at times. I mean, what the heck is "The Operation" about?

I can't find it above, but probably said on another thread. They had some of the best lyrics of any band ever, full stop. It's annoying, because they present, historically, as some cute slightly eccentric indie rock band of the 90s. I rarely care about words, but was floored when I started reading the lyric sheets for their albums. It's like suddenly discovering that The Archers of Loaf were up there with Dylan Thomas. Or whatever.

"You can fizz out the top or settle to the bottom or stand still inside a liquid life.
You can float away or melt into the ground, but scientists can watch you through the glass and measure forces pulling you, and measure forces pushing you, until you stand still and make the shadows stop.
Vaporize, solidify. Hummingbird in a cube of ice."

I really love some of TFUL282's lyrics. Really evocative and intriguing at times. I mean, what the heck is "The Operation" about?

― Duane Barry, Tuesday, June 23, 2015 7:21 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

alien abduction, no?

this thread has reminded me that I have misplaced my "Hope It Lands" CD

I had forgotten/did not know that they did a 2011 ATP gig. There's a disappointing practice version of "Piston And The Shaft" on Youtube:

httpx://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afiMfHjQMKI

(change x to s)

but it contains this fabulous comment:

As the fifth viewer of this clip, and a citizen of the United States of America, I say that the Thinking Fellers Union is a national treasure, and should be granted immunity from any and all need to work for a living; they should be given a large practice space underneath the national mall in DC, located, say, under the Washington Monument, with instruments made of gold, and free electricity and infinite credit at the local supermarket.

my favorite lyrics are the piston and the shaft like

When the car parks in the garage
When the beauty receives her beau
There's a border taut and bold
That's a feeling we'll never know

You're the hard spot on my seat
I'm the drooling bitch in heat
I'm your gravy baster gun
You're my creamy squishy bun
We got a funny situation, you and me
We're the beaver and the hog
But who's biting what and what's eating whom
We're a dripping marsh full of frogs

I've always been in love with this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czp3wGZ9XUM

always loved "Heavy Head":

You sleep so you won't notice the weight upon your breast
You drift on winds you can't feel, flowing so your dreams won't end
What have you done to manufacture your own fear?
It could last forever - no one can see you in there

Black and rusted handcuffs chain you to your bed
Struggling exhausts you - rest your heavy head
Stop the dream while you can
Lose your mind

You beat yourself unconscious with heavy words and sighs
You lose your focus and your breath and you close your eyes

Why is it that the 90s seem to have the most inventive chord progressions in the dissonant-yet-melodic category?

Never listened to this lot. How do they compare to Cheer-Accident?

they are of a similar era, and share fans, and members of one have played with members of the other

Hope It Lands is my favorite

xp check out the show I linked! you won't regret it.

Hope It Lands is on Spotify, which is nice

Will listen to the show and the album, cool

I like this band but I've been very slow in getting their discography. I Hope it Lands is the next one for me I think.

They weren't really anything like Cheer-Accident though, more like if Polvo were collectively recovering from head injuries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkwGzl1I42g Heavy Head is their best song!

I listened to I Hope it Lands; it was amazing. Heard about 25m of the gig too. Lovely.

Then listened to all of Enduring The American Dream by Cheer-Accident and that was even better, but the two bands are both clearly wonderful

alien abduction, no?

I guess so! It's a bit ironic that never occurred to me, given the bloody username I chose for this place.

Happy to see the love for "I Hope It Lands" here, it seems to be their least-mentioned album but it's actually my favourite of the two "pop" TFUL albums (the other being "Strangers").

2019 resolutions: increase public awareness of this band, find another set of the stickers I bought from them in the mid-90s.

weird that I never posted on this thread, I have about eight of their records. favourite song is probably a tie between heavy head and narlus spectre?

As someone who spent quite a bit of time studying/playing a lot of Sundanese-style gamelan in the pelog (7-tone) scale, "Hundreds Of Years" lead guitar is definitely the most melodically gamelan-ish rock song I can think of (even moreso than a lot of late-period OOIOO).

Guitar on the bottom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S3EW_euij4

for reference:

http://tful282.com/

great solo release from Mark Davies that came out a few years back and was way under the radar even for me:

https://thewhiteshark.bandcamp.com/album/the-beastly-hymnal

cool! sounds nice. the song lost in a spacesuit is beautiful. i still have the white shark 10” from the 90s.
i would like another Mr. Hageman record ( i think i decided he is my fave feller, but i couldn’t always tell who was who).

doctors claim there's nothing wrong with me

pretty nuts that this is standard tuning...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEk_krUPh54

phew, thread not bumped for death ... I had forgotten how great I Hope It Lands is .

i can't taste or smell and i can hardly see!

That YouTube playthrough channel is '90s freak-rock/art-rock/math-rock gold

haha, yeah, I originally found him by looking up Ash Bowie's tuning on Polvo's "My Kimono" (open Bsus4) and noticed he had a lot of TFUL282 as well!

I feel like I haven't spent enough time on this thread talking about how staggeringly great this band was, I miss them. I put together a fan compilation of all the odds and ends, and I'm posting here so the thread will nag me into completion/upload, it's all done.

I wish the stuff would get reissued, or something. If the "Eavesdrop" section in the band website link above is for real and not a joke, there may be some conflict? I dunno.

Just so endlessly inventive and good-humored, also a mirror of my life in the 90s, I had been following them since '89 when a friend put "Sister Hell" on a mixtape, when they did the reunion shows in 2000/2004 and wrote "'91 Dodge Van" I was touched. At the last Portland reunion gig (? the one at Berbati's), some guy got up on stage and hugged each band member individually near the end of their (fantastic) set.

I put together a fan compilation of all the odds and ends, and I'm posting here so the thread will nag me into completion/upload, it's all done.

Did you use this as a starting point? iirc the band chose the tracklist for this one:

https://www.discogs.com/Thinking-Fellers-Union-Local-282-TFUL282/release/1722045

(...although that one omits "Father" which is my absolute #1 favorite song of theirs)

01 Nipper
02 2x4's (7" version)
03 Horrible Hour
04 Outhouse Of The Pryeeee
05 I Am Beautiful, I Am Good
06 Heaven For Real Idiots
07 Strolling Big Butter
08 282 Years
09 Hugh Swarts - Theme From Sunset On Hair Mountain.flac
10 Paul Bergmann - Where Are You Going & Where Have You Been_.flac
11 Jay Paget - Birthday Stew.flac
12 Anne Eickelberg - Sick Of You.flac
13 Brian Hageman - Fruity Fantasies.flac
14 Ed Sullivan.flac
15 Holiday For String
16 The Electrocutioner
17 Electric Chair.flac
18 Everyday
19 Fistful Of Dollars
20 The Kids Are In The Mud
21 Broken Bones
22 Wally and the Ghost.flac
23 Blank Eyed Devil.flac
24 Shiny Pig.flac
25 Entoloma.flac
26 Who Are Parents

(all non-LP stuff, singles, comp tracks, etc._

notes:

1. This song has been vehemently disowned by the band, and they refused to include it on the 2LP/CD reissue of “Wormed By Leonard”, but it was on the original cassette release. If you want to make a CD of these tracks, just delete this one and you’ll have enough room!

2-3. Their first 7” release, different & earlier version of “2x4’s”

4. split single w/Sun City Girls that has never been reissued in any form

5-8. alternate versions and one outtake from Mother Of All Saints - from the “Where’s Officer Tuba?” EP

9-13. solo tracks from each band member, from a Bananafish compilation CD

14. from the compilation series “Lyrics By Ernest Noyes Brookings”

15. from a rare cassette compilation on an obscure Olympia WA label, I’m sure this is a cover but don’t know who wrote it.

16. Residents cover from the “Eyesore” compilation CD

17. compilation track from the “Sidereal Rest” CD on Scratch Records

18-19. 7” released on Amarillo, 19 is an Ennio Morricone piece

20-21. 7” released on Japan Overseas

22. from the CD, this volume of the 7” series was never released as vinyl

23. from a CD compilation included with Badaboom Gramaphone #4 magazine

24. from a CD compilation included with Sound Collector #6 magazine

25. from the “Hangin’ From The Devil’s Tree” compilation CD

26. Shaggs cover!! from the “Better Than The Beatles” compilation CD

links soon

hey that would be awesome thanks

https://shardsofbeauty.blogspot.com/2020/04/oh-hi-i-was-shocked-out-of-my-laziness.html

missed the "odds & ends" part of your OP lol, well done!

I have an almost-as-great CDs worth of otherwise-unreleased live trax, but it needs work

http://sunshinesmilefactory.blogspot.com/2010/02/thinking-fellers-union-local-282-duck.html?m=1

I bought the discs for this comp from the Yahoo group way back when and was wondering if I could find my CD drive to upload 'em--thought I'd do a search first. Links appear to still be good.

wow, thanks!

Reprinted TFUL282 bootleg shirts (now with the bands blessing) Now in BLACK so you look extra TUFF at your DJ night when dive bars open back up. All profits go to @TRPistas
PURCHASE HERE, https://t.co/gis9Q9spKQ ships immediately

— Ryley walker (@ryleywalker) January 13, 2021

very nice too

just got one, thanks for the reminder - it had been on my list for a while