Brainiac generated buzz as a live act to see that resulted in opening slots on tours for Beck, the Breeders and the Jesus Lizard, and received offers from major labels.
On May 23, 1997, while driving back home, Taylor lost control of his vintage '72 Mercedes[8] and crashed into a lamppost, which burst into flames.
[9][10] According to Schmersal, a post-mortem toxicology report indicated that Taylor had succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning, and was dead before his vehicle crashed;[9][10] in Transmissions After Zero, Trent and Schmersal recount that Taylor bought the car five days earlier, and that the back of the car was so rusted out that the exhaust gases were leaking into the passenger compartment.
Monasterio directs music videos, including two for Enon, and released in 2008 an EP with a new band called Model/Actress with Curtis Mead and Charlie Walker from Chamberlain and ex-Bullet LaVolta drummer Philips; Schmersal makes appearances on this album.
[15] The surviving members of Brainiac also appeared on an episode of Conan Neutron's Protonic Reversal[16] to discuss the career of the band, the death of Tim Taylor and the documentary.
[18] During a BBC radio session, Nine Inch Nails' frontman Trent Reznor commented on Brainiac that they were a major influence on him, "from a sonic standpoint.
[20] Matt Bellamy of Muse claims that a certain section in the song "Exo-Politics" from Black Holes and Revelations was heavily influenced by Brainiac.
[21] Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta state Brainiac, specifically Electro-Shock for President as an influential record.
On their influence Cedric states: Nearly every band is indebted to Brainiac: Blood Brothers, The Locust, At the Drive-In, also The Faint owe them a lot, and they wouldn't be afraid to admit that.