Audiopile Review: Issued domestically the same year as their beloved and masterful 1994 full length Strangers From The Universe (reissued back in 2022 on their own Bulbous Monocle imprint), The Funeral Pudding has remained a deep cut in the Thinking Fellers extensive catalog. Never slotting neatly into any of the 90s rock subgenres, TFUL292’s idiosyncratic genre-blurring had few bands entering it’s orbit as they filtered elements of math rock and post-rock through a cracked lens of country-fried indie. Somewhat fresh off a recent tour with Sun City Girls, the Bishop bros and their wild-eyed brand of molten psychedelia surely had a notable influence on them during this fertile period. You can hear it seeping into the free form cracked-kraut of ”Give Me Back My Golden”, or the tightly wound trash-surf guitars of “23 Kings Crossing.” Anne Eickelberg, whose vocals are usually under-utilized on most of their albums, gets a bit more shine here—her sweetly sung vocals on the plucky country-groove of EP opener “Waited Too Long” and the hot-wired Americana of “Heavy Head”, brings an edge of magnetism to the sonic scrawl. An overlooked highlight from one of America’s finest imports of the 1990s.

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” mini-LP.

Comprising a selection of songs 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 falsetto 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 demonstrating that TFUL282 was creating some of the most thrilling, enduring and sonically autonomous music of its era.