Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 is an experimental indie rock group formed… Read Full Bio ↴Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 is an experimental indie rock group formed in 1986 San Francisco, California, though half of its members are from Iowa. Their albums combine lo-fi noise rock and ambient sounds (referred to as "Feller filler") with tightly constructed rock and pop songs. The band has a small but intensely loyal cult following. Band members are Brian Hageman, Mark Davies, Anne Eickelberg, Hugh Swarts and Jay Paget. Hageman was also a member of the Iowa City based group, Horny Genius.
The band achieved their greatest critical and commercial success in the mid-nineties when they signed with the influential indie rock label Matador Records. It was during this time that Thinking Fellers produced their most prominent albums, Lovelyville, and the critically lauded college radio hit Strangers from the Universe. Despite its relatively poor production values, Mother of All Saints is considered by many fans the group's masterpiece. In 1996 they toured briefly as an opening act for the then-popular band Live but were not received well by the Live fanbase. Thinking Fellers has been largely dormant since 1996. They have toured sporadically and released only one full album, Bob Dinners and Larry Noodles Present Tubby Turdner's Celebrity Avalanche, which received mixed reviews. They toured Holland, Germany, Switzerland and the U.K. in 1994 and made an appearance on the John Peel radio show on the BBC.
In 2001 author Jonathan Franzen referenced the band in his widely-acclaimed bestselling novel The Corrections. The character Brian, a snobbish fan of "west coast underground bands," listens to the albums of Thinking Fellers Union while writing the music software that will make him a young millionaire. Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 is inactive as of 2007, although band members have not ruled out the possibility of further albums and touring. Their song "The Piston and the Shaft" is frequently used as background music for announcements on National Public Radio stations.
The band achieved their greatest critical and commercial success in the mid-nineties when they signed with the influential indie rock label Matador Records. It was during this time that Thinking Fellers produced their most prominent albums, Lovelyville, and the critically lauded college radio hit Strangers from the Universe. Despite its relatively poor production values, Mother of All Saints is considered by many fans the group's masterpiece. In 1996 they toured briefly as an opening act for the then-popular band Live but were not received well by the Live fanbase. Thinking Fellers has been largely dormant since 1996. They have toured sporadically and released only one full album, Bob Dinners and Larry Noodles Present Tubby Turdner's Celebrity Avalanche, which received mixed reviews. They toured Holland, Germany, Switzerland and the U.K. in 1994 and made an appearance on the John Peel radio show on the BBC.
In 2001 author Jonathan Franzen referenced the band in his widely-acclaimed bestselling novel The Corrections. The character Brian, a snobbish fan of "west coast underground bands," listens to the albums of Thinking Fellers Union while writing the music software that will make him a young millionaire. Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 is inactive as of 2007, although band members have not ruled out the possibility of further albums and touring. Their song "The Piston and the Shaft" is frequently used as background music for announcements on National Public Radio stations.
I Hope It Lands
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Thinking Fellers Union Local 282:
Cup of Dreams Scrub a dub dub, showers fall from heaven Scrub a dub…
Guillotine I saw you in the line up I saw you in…
Hundreds of Years Leaves flutter, blink at the sky The pictures in your mind…
Hurricane Somehow your hurricane envelops me in misty rain Funny how …
My Pal the Tortoise My pal the tortoise, how fast does he go? Oh man,…
Noble Experiment If the sadness of life makes you tired And the failures…
Undertaker Undertakers gather round and get me ready for the undergroun…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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dlmx13
I'm on a TFUL282 kick right now. (Probably because all their stuff is finally on Spotify, whereas it was just the two Communion albums for the longest time) Such an amazing band and I'm heartbroken that they're so obscure. They did the most outstanding, complex songs that completely redefine one's sense of what a song even is.
Doomsday Dance Party
This has to be the most underrated band in history
Vile Jerk
I'd argue the Sun city girls as being the most underrated; but silly semantics and all preferences aside this is some spectacularly underappreciated genius shit (one of my top 10 favorite bands)... great music to shoot up drugs to... shoot up your drugs, not your schools kids! Sail Hatan
Michael VanFleet
@Doomsday Dance Party not the most convenient feast
Brian Hall
Totally Underated. I saw some Amazing Live shows. Played a warehouse show with them that was Awesome. R.I.P.
Brian Hall
I'm with you on the Sun City Girls thing. I've seen both bands together doing each other's song's. Sun City Girls doing Hive from Mother of All Saints
suaryps
they were so funny, like not in the level of other bands today but they had just the perfect level of goofiness to all their themes
Kosmic93
Thinking Fellers are a good reminder on how one should never be shy to take a trip into lesser known music acts. Their sheer creativity and weirdness makes them as incredible and inspiring as a lot of mainstream bands, and shows all the amazing things you can still do with rock n roll. Definitely one of the best indie bands ever.
The Fixologist
Saw them in Memphis in the late 90s at a dive bar called Green's Lounge. One of the weirdest nights of my young life. Great band. Favorite song on this one: Elgin Miller.
dreg
Also my favorite on this album, you lucky dog ! Would kill to have a chance to catch them live