Pat Angello Fan Club Music Blog

I’ve been fighting in my head about how to explain what this band means to me and to the world of music. I know, you’ve probably never heard of them and think they are new, but the Residents have been making albums since 1971. And you’ve never heard of them, or heard them! How is that possible, you wonder? It’s probably because they are the definitive underground band. Oh, and they are anonymous as well. Their names are never printed and they are always in disguise.

Before cable TV and MTV hit the city of Denver, local public channel 12 had Teletunes, which later turned into FMTV. My brother and I would stay up late to watch videos like Elephant Talk by King Crimson, The Man in the Dark Sedan by Snake Finger, Songs for Swinging Larvae by Renaldo and the Loaf, and Norman Bates by Landscape. Then there were the four One Minute Movies featuring 4 guys always dressed in tuxedos with large eyeball heads – the classic Residents look. Other videos by the band featured more disguises such as newspaper suits with matching hoods. Yeah, they were some freaks! And the music was equally disturbing, yet incredibly intriguing!

I kind of forgot about these guys until I got to college. After all, MTV was way too commercial to play any of their videos. Ironically, the Residents have been credited with creating/pioneering the art form you all now know as music videos. BTW, that’s what MTV used to play on their station. The One Minute Movies were created with the release of the Residents’ Commercial Album in 1980. MTV took off in 1981. Also, the band is credited with creating/pioneering sampling, the technology rappers use to blatantly rip-off songs that aren’t theirs and loop them behind their busting rhymes. Believe it or not, the Residents were sampling and looping old tapes they found in 1971. They put together a very odd recording with no band name, sent the tape off to Warner Brothers, and got a rejection letter back. Since the return address had no band name, it was marked “Residents” thus the name.

While in college, I purchased 3 Residents albums: The Commercial Album (featured 50 one-minute long songs, four of them used for the One Minute Movies), Duck Stab (featured Hello Skinny, another odd video played on FMTV), and The King and Eye (featured a bunch of Elvis cover songs). After college I worked in a CD store and got a wild hair to own everything the Residents have recorded. Frighteningly, that collection is pushing 45-50 CDs, DVDs, videos and books (hard to count)! They are certainly, however, an acquired taste!

Because the Residents love me, they put out a new CD the day before my birthday – Animal Lover. Over the years, they have gotten much more structured (half the fun of the early stuff is its off-beat and atonal pain) and added more female vocals (though the original male vocalist is my favorite). My wife says they create music she hears in her nightmares. Yeah, they can be a little dark, but I think that’s the stuff I like the most!

Animal Lover follows their more recent trends with more structure and, in my opinion, too much reliability on female vocalists. Sure everything still has the dark tones and feel, but I simply don’t care for the female vocals and about 50% of the songs feature them. But wait – there are two discs! There is no info in the booklet about anything on the seconds CD. (BTW, the two-disc set is packaged as a small hardcover book with extensive liner notes that alternate a story about an animal with lyrics to the songs.) It’s mainly a medley of select lyrics from the songs on disc one, but with different, unstructured, and darker music. Heck, its also very male vocal driven and sounds like classic Residents stuff! Thank you! A saving grace!

I’m not really expecting any of you to run out and buy this CD. However, I am a big fan of this band (duh!) and I will give you an idea of how to wean yourself into them if you have any interest at all.

1) I would suggest starting with the King and Eye. This CD is all Elvis songs done with the odd touch of the Residents. Also, between every third song or so is a compelling story about the “baby king” being read to children. I’d suggest this first because you already know the songs, just not the Residents’ style. If you like this at all, then go on to the next suggestion.
2) Head toward the Commercial Album. Again, there are about 50 one-minute songs with a few covers at the end. The best part is, if you don’t like a particular song, it’s over in a minute!
3) Try Duck Stab! This CD is probably their best ever. It’s a certain classic with everything that is fun and freaky about the Residents!
4) Third Reich and Roll. Only two songs here, but they are about 20-minute medleys of pop tunes from the 60’s and 70’s.
5) Heaven and Hell are cool! These two CDs are basically greatest hits. Yeah, I like Hell better!
6) Meet the Residents. The album that pretty much started it all. Here’s where they show off their creativity and ability to take old recordings and mangle them into what the Residents would call music. Remember, this sucker is from 1971!
7) If you’ve made it this far, take a listen to Wormwood. This is a collection of dark and creepy stories from the Bible with the passage explained and the number given.

Why not take a listen to them? Are you scared? You can probably get some sound clips at cdnow.com or residents.com.

As far as Animal Lover is concerned, not loving the first disc, but really enjoying the second.

3 out of 5!