Rockbites: Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 back on job

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April 2001 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

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Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 back on job
24 April 2001

San Francisco experimental quintet Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 today release their first album in five years, and their second consecutive on The Communion Label. Known to their friends as TFUL282, the band (vocalist and bassist Anne Eickelberg; guitarist, mandolin player, and strings player Brian Hageman; vocalist, guitarist, and pianist Hugh Swarts; vocalist, drummer, and keyboards player Jay Paget; and vocalist, guitarist, banjo player, and French horn player Mark Davies) are a chimeric and un-pigeonhole-able anomaly for whom any reasonably comprehensive list of musical points of reference will do as much to confuse as to enlighten.
    Oh fuck it, let’s try anyway: Henry Cow, The Art Bears, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, The Residents, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Tuxedo Moon, The Butthole Surfers, Primus, Ennio Morricone, Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, The Third Eye Foundation, Beethoven, Tibetan throat chanting, calliope melodies, sound effects collections.... So, you get the idea, or not.
    Their new album has an even longer name than the band’s. It’s rather ridiculous, in fact, which is surely the intent: Bob Dinners & Larry Noodles Present Tubby Turdner’s Celebrity Avalanche. There’s no point asking what it means unless you relish the role of straight man. The band claim that among titles abandoned in favor of the one they used are Boobfeeler (which is, nonetheless, one of the tracks) and Adolf Hitler—The Nazi.
    The new set (let’s call it Bob Dinners) follows a full five years on from their previous studio LP, 1996’s I Hope It Lands. Bob Dinners is cohesive in its eclecticism—which is to say it is consistently dizzying and fascinating. There is not much here you can dance to (if you dance to 4/4 beats), but there is some, such as the nearly-radio-friendly ’91 Dodge Van. For the most part you’ll want to devote your full attention to this rambunctious little monster, probably with your eyes closed and in a reclining position.
    Following their I Hope It Lands tour in early 1996, TFUL282 decided to call it quits as a road band—but they do play live on special occasions. One such is coming up. Next Wednesday, 2 May, they will perform at the ODC Theatre in San Francisco along with Fred Frith (ex Henry Cow) and Beth Custer (Club Foot Orchestra, Trance Mission, Vinculum Symphony, solo). You can find ticket purchasing information on the ODC Web site.
    Bob Dinners & Larry Noodles Present Tubby Turdner’s Celebrity Avalanche rates four bites out of five.

Rockbites ratings  5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying.

| TFUL282 | | TFUL282 on The Communion Label site | | ODC Theatre | | bio | | discography | | CD | | top of page |

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