Thought Industry’s final chapter is a brief tale which I’ve decided to pair with a surprise to reward your patience. After a spell of silence and some degree of uncertainty as to whether there would be another album (their Metal Blade contract involved one more release), Brent resurfaced with an all-new lineup, assembled from various Michigan musicians of varied genres. The resulting quintet had a quirky, geeky stage presence with sparkling keyboards and blinking effects units, and a wide-eyed naivity that suited the sprawling textures of the new disc. The album even had the infamy of the September 11th release date, coincidentally unsettling with it’s crackly intro recording of the national anthem.
By this point in their career, their web presence was also at its strongest, with the (now defunct) http://www.thoughtindustry.com/ page offering plenty of band-posted photos, a great forum with file shares, demo snippets, and on-the-road updates.
I saw them live twice after this album, first at The Magic Bag (opening for The Breeders) and then later in a humbling opening slot at the Emerald Theatre, warming up for a series of very young melodic post-punk-metal bands fresh from their high school talent show.
Soon, the band quietly dissolved, with Brent Oberlin continuing his education in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
There still exists online a very satisfying interview from this period, with much insight into the band (and their songcrafting) from Brent. For those who recall the live footage once found on the band’s webpage, litinfinite has re-posted those vids on Youtube, as they are a rare treat. And, as you continue to visit the goldmine that is Leon’s Temple, don’t forget Trey’s definitive Thought Industry myspace page here.
For your pleasure, I’ve prepared a ‘Best of Thought Industry’ mp3 compilation, which can be downloaded by clicking here
It’s a .zip file, just unzip it into your ‘MyDocuments/MyMusic’ folder, and it should be ready to play in your media player, your portable device, or burn yourself a CD. It features what I consider the finer moments from each album:
1. Kissing Judy Fly
2. Fairy
3. Tragic Juliet
4. Dante Dangling From a Noose
5. The Measure of Our Miles
6. Her Rusty Nail
7. The Squid
8. Pink Dumbo
9. Burning Coal With Margaret
10. Jane Whitfield is Dead
11. The Chalice Vermillion
12. Republicans in Love
The Best of Thought Industry compilation
Of course, if you like what you hear, definitely buy the CDs – all are very cheap at Amazon, and Thought Industry’s one of the few bands that I’ve felt have justified time spent reading the lyrics and liner notes. Metal Blade Records even sells them for cheap, now that they’ve deleted the band’s catalog.
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