dying factory town

Nice Strong Arm - Framingham, from the LP 'Mind Furnace' (1988)

I worked as a security guard at an aluminum production factory. It was a union plant and I was a scab with a name tag; kind a crude form of outsourcing. Our crew's job was to direct forklift traffic around three corners near the roller mills. The fork truckers had no respect for us, and often ignored our signaling. It was tedium at its worst, with an occasional scare. More than once I had to jump out of my posting area in order to avoid having a 1/2 ton bin of hot scrap metal spilled in my direction. I did the job for a year, often listening to a walkman. This song was in regular rotation.
Nice Strong Arm released several titles on the Homestead label in the late 80's, all of which are out of print. And while there was a supposed 'homestead sound', their music - like many other bands who shared the label - stood up quite well on it's own merit. Sure, there was a bit of jangle to their tunes. But it was promptly assaulted by brooding, often shouted vocals, haunting effects-laden guitar work and dual drummers. It was a more complex sound only to be discovered after multiple listens. Mind Furnace, which this song appears was my favorite of their releases. Sadly, all are out of print.