Thinking Plague

The people behind Maryland, MD's Cuneiform Records have a healthy obsession with all things bizarre and dusty, and their latest string of releases fortifies their tastes. Beginning with the coupling of the first two releases from the Thinking Plague, an obscure '80s avant-garde act, one clearly and quickly realises why they stayed on the fringes of popularity while other bands basked in the glory of the free-for-all era of generic compositions and production values. Thinking Plague had all the elements necessary for survival in the time period, from lanky melodies right down to the saccharine-saturated Ultravox drum machines. However, their major flaw stemmed from the fact that their influences were one too many, leading them on a path of aural discourse that makes their sound a confused mix of Frank Zappa, Lydia Lunch, early Sonic Youth and ritual music for esoteric new age religions.