The Residents April 15, 2011

No one knows who The Residents are. No one has ever seen their faces. For forty years they have only performed in elaborate, grotesque costumes such as giant eyeball heads in dancing tuxedos. We don't know exactly how many people are, or have been, in the band. We don't even know their genders. But one thing is certain, no other band makes music like theirs. Their history has been one of unrelenting freakishness. From their clashing horn sections to Snakefinger's twisty guitar, their albums stand mutated and unique. Their songs can launch from places of celestial calm to pure avant-garde excess in a matter of seconds. The music is dense and complex, and almost every song takes you to a trippy lysergic place of ultimate unease. They sing about the dark places with melodies beautiful and strange.