After the EP Internationale (Touch & Go), with the hysterical pop of Go Freaks Go, Hissing Prigs In Static Couture (Touch & Go, 1996) amplifies, if possible, the over-the-top absurdity of the first two albums. Pussyfootin' lunges like a ragged version of Should I Stay Or Should I Go sung in a hysterical falsetto, Vincent Come On Down spins an even more psychotic chorus over an increasingly frantic instrumental backing, Bee Keepers Maxim struts in march-like fashion as in a Brechtian drama, Kiss Me You Jacked-Up Jerk is a bawdy and vulgar circle of lunatics deliriously out of control, and Nothing Ever Changes intones an epic slogan with Zappa’s tragicomic flair. Subnormal vocal registers and hard rock vehemence combine in infernal fashion. When the tempo slows, subliminal lied-like pieces emerge, such as Fancy Neckwear, with extremely fragmented harmonies and barely whispered melodies, and scenarized songs that are simultaneously sarcastic and dramatic like This Little Piggy. When the sound parameters find a precarious balance and clarity emerges from the pantagruelic disorder of their arrangements, it feels like listening to the Fall (Hot Seat). Yet the tradition is that of Pere Ubu and Devo, updated to a less tragic and more unrestrained mood.

The mini-CD Electro-Shock For President relies even more heavily on synthesizers. The sound is coldly digital, the delivery more psychotic than ever. Their style has become a sustained exercise in atmosphere, certainly closer to the 1970s new wave (and kraut-rock) than to 1990s alternative rock. The "noir" music of Fresh New Eyes draws inspiration from the new wave of twenty years earlier (Pere Ubu in expressionist mode), but all the emphasis is on narrative, as in the psychodramas of Nine Inch Nails. Maniacal suspense also grips the whispered confession of The Turnover, torn by intermittent hissing and violent electric shocks. The harmony disintegrates further in the abstract post-industrial sound-painting of Fashion 500, all bubbles and dissonances and syllables in frantic freedom, like the atoms of a gas. These are pieces where an art of abstract sonic fresco takes shape, still endowed with a structure. The deranged rock of their origins is recognizable only in the frantic Mr Fingers.

Tim Taylor died in a car accident in May 1997, at the age of twenty-eight.

Tim Taylor died in a car accident in may 1997. He was only 28.

Brainiac guitarist John Schmersal moved to New York, formed John Stuart Mill, and released Forget Everything (SeeThru Broadcasting, 1999), an album that picks up right where Brainiac left off. The sound is mellower and the instrumentation is arcane, the pace is drugged and the riffs are uncertain, but the result is another dadaistic pastiche of genre remakes.

Brainiac's guitarist John Schmersal, hidden behind the moniker Enon and assisted by Skeleton Key's Rick Lee and Steve Calhoon, continued the band's epic with Believo (See Thru Broadcasting, 2000), a set of catchy tunes flooded with cacophonies (Biofeedback, Elected, For The Sum Of It) and a few rap-ballads a` la Beck (Rubber Car).

Enon's second album, High Society (Touch And Go, 2002), gives up too much of that repertory of tricks. Guitarist John Schmersal is now flanked by bassist Toko Yasuda (Blonde Redhead) and drummer Matt Schulz. The songs are far more regular, leading off with Old Dominion (featuring a crunchy riff a` la Cream and a John Lennon-ian bridge) and peaking with the manic punk-pop of Pleasure And Priviledge. The combination of Schmersal's hard-rock guitar riffs and cheesy vintage keyboards is occasionally intriguing (Carbonation) and experimental (the industrial dance of Salty) The Japanese singer increases the similarities with Blonde Redhead (In This City, their signature song) and with the Japanese retro-pop contingent of Cibo Matto, and Pizzicato Five (Disposable Parts, Shoulder). Half-hearted stabs at pop stereotypes (Natural Disasters, Sold, High Society) do not help. In the end one is left with the impression of yet another alternative band chasing mass-market success. Whether they also have talent and ideas rests to be seen.

Enon's third album Hocus Pocus (Touch & Go, 2003) tips its hat to trip-hop (Shave, sung by Yasuda), epic soul (the Hendrix-ian Storm the Gates), hard-rock (Utz), power-pop (The Power of Yawning), pop balladry (Candy), and even Japanese folk music (Mikazuki), while maintaining the intellectual stance of the new wave. What a stylistic mess. Stance aside, the more original songs are merry-go-rounds of arrangements that enhance the singer's narrative skills: Daughter in the House of Fools (sung by Yasuda), that relies on lo-fi sonic events, or Starcastic, a skewed song in the tradition of Pixies and Breeders with a cute interplay of the two singers.

Lost Marbles And Exploded Evidence (Touch & Go, 2005) collects rarities and singles, including pre-Yasuda material such as Fly South (1998), Marbles Explode, Party Favor.

Enon's poppy Grass Geysers Carbon Clouds (Touch And Go, 2007), probably under the influence of the success of
Blonde Redhead, marked a sharp departure from their original aesthetic. The radio-friendly songs (Mirror on You, Mr Ratatatat, Pigeneration) are easily forgotten, and the "experimental" songs of the second half would not have made it to Enon's classic albums. Toko Yasuda's vibrant, dancing bass is perhaps the most interesting element to come out of this album.