New temperature-dependent angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) data on the quasi-one-dimensional Peierls compound (TaSe4)(2)I suggest a new interpretation of the spectral lineshapes, which removes discrepancies with the transport and thermodynamic results. We argue that the carriers are heavily dressed by the interaction with the lattice, and that the ARPES spectra are dominated by incoherent features. Signatures of the Peierls transitions are observed at the correct energy scale, but only with vanishingly small intensity. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.