The Residents
are true avant-garde crazies. Their earliest albums (of which this is the first) have precedents in
Captain Beefheart
's experimental albums,
Frank Zappa
's conceptual numbers from
Freak Out!
, the work of
Steve Reich
, and the compositions of chance music tonemeister
John Cage
-- yet
the Residents
' work of this time really sounds like nothing else that exists. All of the music on this release consists of deconstructions of countless rock and non-rock styles, which are then grafted together to create chaotic, formless, seemingly haphazard numbers; the first six "songs" (including a fragment from the
Nancy Sinatra
hit
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"
) are strung together to form a larger entity similar in concept to the following lengthier selections. The result is a series of unique, odd, challenging numbers that are nevertheless not entirely successful. The album cover is a fierce burlesque of
the Beatles
' first U.S.
Capitol
label release, sporting puerilely doctored photographs of
the Fab Four
on the front and pictures of collarless-suited sea denizens on the back (identified as
Paul McCrawfish
,
Ringo Starfish
, and the like). This is an utterly bizarre platter that may appeal to very adventurous listeners. ~ David Cleary