| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Light's Out | | | | | |
| 2. Shorty's Lament | | | | | |
| 3. The Moles Are Coming | | | | | |
| 4. Would We Be Alive | | | | | |
| 5. The New Hymn | | | | | |
The Residents: synthesizers and vocals
This one might be a bit difficult to explain. I'll have to provide a bit of background information before approaching the EP itself ...
The Residents, for those of you who don't know, are one of the oddest groups to have emerged from the musical cultural of 1970s America. Supposedly followers of the "theory of obscurity", as devised by the elusive "N. Senada", the identity of the group members remains a mystery to this day -- in all public appearances that they've given throughout their career, they've insisted on wearing giant eyeball masks as a means of concealing their identity. Some theories have suggested that the group has some connection to Devo, but this remains unproven. It is known that Fred Frith, Andy Partridge and others have contributed to Residents projects in guest roles -- if they know anything about the identity of the band members, though, they aren't saying. It wouldn't surprise this reviewer if Thomas Pynchon were involved in this project in some manner ... perhaps in collaboration with J.D. Sallinger.
All questions of identity aside, The Residents have been known throughout their career for beginning adventurous musical projects and running out of ideas before bringing the project to its scheduled completion. The two most celebrated occasions of this are the American Composers Series and the Mole Trilogy. The former (actually the latter in a temporal sense, but bear with me), was commenced in the the early 1980s with the premise that The Residents would record their versions of material by various American artists, with the intention that the entirety of the project would be available by 2001. Unfortunately, the plan dissolved in the late-'80s, and the band moved onto other things.
The failure of the Mole Trilogy is even more spectacular. The series began on a high note with The Mark Of Mole, a grim tale of a society of Moles who are forced to leave their underground sanctuary after a catastrophic earthquake. The Mole religion is thrown into chaos, and all cultural standards of the society are forever lost. Eventually, they decide to leave their shelter to search for a new "holey" land; in doing so, they encounter a race known as the Chubs, who have no intention of seeing their comfortable existence ruined by the Mole invasion. Eventually, the two sides break out into open warfare, which continues even as the album reaches its conclusion.
After this promising beginning, the only problem was that The Residents didn't really have any idea of how they were going to finish the project. They managed to release a second album in the trilogy, entitled The Tunes Of Two Cities, which represented the music of the Moles and the Chubs before their disastrous conflict. They also went on the road (for the first time) with their "Mole Show", a multi-media presentation which ended up costing the group quite a bit a money. A live album -- known as "Part four of the Mole trilogy" -- was taken from this. They never did come up with a satisfactory conclusion to the tale, however, and were eventually forced to move on to other concerns.
They did manage to create a bit of extraneous music for the "Mole Show", however, which was played in between the more vital scenes. This was eventually released as Intermission (now available as a bonus section on The Mark Of The Mole itself).
The Trouser Press guide has commented that the music on this EP doesn't really stand on its own -- this isn't quite true, though. While some listeners unfamiliar with the Mole concept may be befuddled by the theme of the EP, the music here is generally of a fairly high quality.
The EP begins with "Light's Out", which features an odd drum rhythm accompanied by distorted synths and synth guitars. Sounds of destruction herald the collapse of the original Mole society. Strangely, the track then shifts to a clap-along melody, with a curious proggy guitar (synth-guitar, presumably; all music on this release was probably synth-generated). A twisted pop section appears towards the end of the track, which then returns to the preceding section via the guitar part. On its own, this is still a fairly good song.
Prog fans may be especially captivated by "Shorty's Lament" -- it contains a strong similarity to "The Sheltering Sky" in terms of its drum-loop opening and gradual development. The track documents the attempts of one of the Moles (named Shorty, appropriately enough) in charting out new territories; background female vocalists sing his lament in the process. A decent synth solo almost appears in the track. This is, of course, a very strange work, and one which most prog fans should appreciate.
The other tracks aren't quite as good, but come fairly close. "The Moles Are Coming" is a proto-industrial/ambient number, again featuring a bizarre lead melody, bizarre female chanting, (prepared?) piano sections, and a synth conclusion. Some fans of the group might express some surprise in that this piece actually possesses a groove.
"Would We Be Alive" contains a dark bass/drums intro, along with high-pitched synth parts. This is a vocal number, with the lead singer providing the primary hymn of the Moles prior to their migration; some might argue that the ending section goes on a bit too long. Juxtaposed with this is "The New Hymn", featuring the repeated refrain of, "Let my children live in a holey land" -- sung first my the female vocalists, then by the Residents themselves. As a concise summary of the change in the music of Moles, this serves its purpose fairly well.
This is a work which prog fans may find interesting. Purchasing the CD edition of The Mark Of The Mole + Intermission is highly recommended for those interested in the saga of the "Unfab Four".
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 10 September 1997)