| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. You yesyesyes | | | | | |
| 2. Home Age Conversation | | | | | |
| 3. Godsong | | | | | |
| 4. March de la Winni | | | | | |
| 5. Bossy | | | | | |
| 6. Boo Who? | | | | | |
| 7. Tourniquet Of Roses | | | | | |
| 8. Death In Barstow | | | | | |
| 9. Melon Collie Lassie | | | | | |
| 10.Flight Of The Bumble Roach | | | | | |
| 11.Walter Westinghouse | | | | | |
| 12.Six Things To A Cycle | | | | | |
| 13.You yesyesyes Again | | | | | |
Note: Although this album was originally intended as a single unit (so the story goes...), the Residents believed the album to be too long for a proper vinyl pressing at the time of the vinyl release. Four of these tracks, including "Walter Westinghouse", were excised from the album and released as Babyfinger, an EP which was apparently quite rare. The CD reissue restores these missing tracks.
Depending on how you look at the situation, Fingerprince is either the third, fourth or fifth album by this super-ocular quartet (the recording dates for Not Available and Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? being objects of contention among the faithful). It was certainly the third official Residents release, however, and constitutes something of a strategic shift in their war on pop culture.
The first two Residents releases -- Meet The Residents and The Third Reich'n'Roll -- were primarily notable for their absurd remakes of '60s pop standards, intermingled with synthesized decompositions of their own creation. The music was frequently the epitome of madness in terms of both content and form (perhaps best exemplified by their "deranged general" voice drifting entirely out of lucidity in a remake of "Hanky Panky").
With Fingerprince, the group seemed to be experiencing the consequences of partial maturity within the music industry. Some of the tracks on this release are discernible as actual songs, a description which could scarcely be applied to the music on their previous releases. Perhaps more importantly, this album contains at least one composition -- "Six Things To A Cycle" -- which entirely abandons their usual method of deconstruction; it's not completely "straight", but it's easily the most serious thing in their catalogue up to this point. Perhaps the Unfab ones realized that their previous works were a bit too narrow of a base for subsequent projects (and not for the last time in their career, I might add).
This isn't to say that the band's raison d'etre changed overnight, however -- most of the album still consists of short, semi-novelty songs which feature the usual forms of musical and lyrical dementia. To be sure, something as deliberately amateurish as the opening measures of "You yesyesyes" can hardly suggest a streamlining of the band's eccentric tendencies. The track seems a parody of devotional love songs on several levels, from the minimal lyrics (which don't extend terribly far beyond the title) to the absurd sustained notes in the instrumental parts, to the completely tuneless singing. Snakefinger's guitar is doubled with ridiculous faux-horns for much of the closing section. In other words, this one's a winner ...
Most of the tracks which follow (up to "Walter Westinghouse") are similarly short, chaotic and thematically deranged. "Home Age Conversation" seems to set the standard for many of these -- it's virtually impossible to define the lyrics in any meaningful way even when they can be understood (dadaism has this effect at times), and the combination of piano and space effects similarly seems devoid of any unifying presence. The Muppet-esque voices add an element of the absurd to the prevailing obscurity.
"Godsong" is the most notable of the `actual songs' from the release, and probably would have been a successful single in a more perfect universe. The bass/piano combination at the beginning is closer to psychedelia and progressive music, much still stands out as one of the more impressive musical elements here; again, the sudden inclusion of the faux-brass effects in mid-song has an extremely disturbing effect. Lyrically, well ... basically, this one's a description of God's troubles following his creation of mankind (for example, his varying periods of rage and benevolence towards his creators ... since these were concepts that men invented, God never managed to get them quite right). The singing on this particular track is perhaps the most profoundly obnoxious of the Residents's career (though parts of "Walter Westinghouse" rival it). In other words, the band managed to convey their usual brand of chaos within a song structure in this track -- and did it remarkably well.
The next three tracks are rather short even by the standards of the album, and don't never leave as much of an impact as does the less of the material. "March de la Winni" is a minimalist synth-march lasting all of one minute; it's good enough, but not essential to the album (some listeners might note an odd similarity to "Man Of Spells", a Tony Banks track recorded about seven years later). After this is "Bossy", a twisted little number about bovine farming which has a vague hint of cannibalism about it (a voice in mid-song wondering why milking the cow "didn't work" comes and goes without explanation) -- the musical backing is fairly simple and repetitious. And, then, there's "Boo Who?", a piano/metronome feature with disturbingly simple "before and after" lyrics; an off-kilter synth lead at the end provides the most memorable music on the number. While there's nothing wrong with these numbers, they could have been cut from the album without doing much damage to its overall value.
Things improve again with the bizarre "Tourniquet Of Roses", another trip into pop chaos. The lyrics (with Lead Singer Resident adopting something of a fishmonger cry for his lines) seem to have something to do with the destructive elements of modern technology, though he suddenly loses track of his thoughts in one verse and makes reference to a bicycle bell instead. Some tap-dancing and an extended synthesizer solo are also featured elements of the track. The chant of "There is no more to say" at the end seems highly appropriate.
"Death In Barstow" is the murder mystery track of the album, though the lyrics don't leave terribly much of in the way of potential analysis. Musically, this track is better than the other short tracks on the album; the piano lead actually sounds professional, and works in a nice dichotomy with the demented guitar line. The horns return again in mid-section, though it's ultimately the piano which "makes" the song. For those concerned, there are no references to coastal diseases or noble Polish youths within the lyric.
"Melon Collie Lassie" seems something of a foreshadowing of "Six Things To A Cycle" with its somewhat more elaborate instrumental structure (the "Six Things" melody even makes an appearance at one point), though its brevity belies lies somewhat. The synth effects are quite heavy for most of the track, which generally isn't a bad thing -- as per the title, there seems to be a slight bagpipe element in said effects. This track then segues into "Flight Of The Bumble Roach", which, perhaps not surprisingly, consists primarily of a blood-curdling scream being manipulated as lead synthesizer line (a suggestion of nursery rhymes also appears in the background, at times).
Irrespective of the value of these tracks, however, the album only shows its full potential with "Walter Westinghouse" and "Six Things To A Cycle". The first of these numbers is an eight-minute "opera" of sorts, cleverly featuring the sounds of audience whispering for the better part of its duration (if anyone knows what the Residents are saying in these sections, please chime in with the answers). In terms of plot, there's once again only so much that can be said -- the title character goes about his happy-go-lucky way with a walk through the town, this wife apparently drowns her employer, and the two figures join in a demonic chant as the track ends. The lyrics are entirely in the form of rhyming couplets, sung in perhaps the hokey-est manner imaginable (the voice of Mrs. Westinghouse, moreover, truly must be heard to be believed...); the interplay of the cerebral Westinghouse with his more earthy wife comes through nonetheless, but isn't really developed as such. Curious synthesized effect float in and out of the number, and the metronomic drums occasionally bring to mind nothing so much as "In The Air Tonight". The chant at the end seems guaranteed to frighten away all but the most open-minded of listeners. Another triumph, in other words.
"Six Things To A Cycle", though, is the track which transforms the album from high musical dementia into something more artistically viable (and valuable). This extended suite -- divided into six parts, of course -- outlines a gradual development from primitive jungle noises to a refined musical performance, all loosely based around the same themes. As the liner notes indicate, this was meant to tell the saga of the reformation of society following its eventual collapse.
To summarize the movements briefly: (i) primitive natural effects appear, and are quickly sped-up (for some reason); a deranged human cry introduces some quasi-gamelan/quasi-circus effects; the bass line features a danceable rhythm, which has nothing to do with the rest of the number, (ii) another layer of keyboard sounds meets with unintelligible (and ununified) background chanting, (iii) the quasi-gamelan effects return, as does the semi-danceable bass line; the synth dabblings become very eccentric, perhaps suggests elaborate ritual without actual communication, (iv) the music slows again, and rough voices present a chant of "chew chew gum chew gum gum chew chew"; the percussion becomes somewhat elaborate, (v) more minor chords appear in the foreground, and a different chant appears via a refined voice (courtesy Pamela Zeibak, I assume); the music, despite some building chaos at the end, is generally more refined as well; this obviously suggests a later stage in cultural development, (vi) the "chew chew" theme returns on guitar, with violin accompaniment -- the music now sounds fully professional, though still possessing some of the original motifs. Taken as a sum total, this track can be seen as the first Residential step towards their subsequent large-scale projects (and a rather large step it was, at that) -- unlike anything else in their catalogue at the time, this suggested that the band had the potential for elaborate concepts beyond their somewhat limited thematic roots. Besides >which, their decision to bring in skilled guest musicians for the track can hardly be seen as an error in judgement.
With that cycle thus complete, The Residents decided to provide the conclusion of another one as well. "You yesyesyes Again" brings the album full circle to its origins, with some variations in the arrangement once again suggesting a shift from pure novelty to general coherence. The music is substantially slower in this version, and almost seems akin to a Morricone soundtrack on occasion; the percussives and jangly guitar take the lead once again, of course. As Snakefinger's deliberate errors are faded out and the percussive synth lines reach their logical conclusion, the album thus reaches its end (although a sneeze can be heard in the background after this...).
Fingerprince is generally not regarded as the best Residents album, but it certainly ranks among their best. It's certainly one of the most diverse sets in their catalogue, and is recommended to those curious (though Mark Of The Mole may yet be a better starting point).
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 11 Jul 1998)