Move over Sufjan Stevens

The Residents – Arkansas (2009) on Ralph America

1. Nobody is Listening
2. The Bunny Boy
3. Sad Saint John
4. The Butcher Shop
5. Memories For Sale
6. Two Clown Paintings
7. The Black Behind
8. My Brother’s Skin
9. Save the World
10. Circe

Download









Somehow this slipped through the cracks. 2009 was the year the Residents embraced the digital distribution model, where they quietly, yet eagerly released their back catalogue, archives, and unreleased material through their very own digital download store. Arkansas never surfaced on said store, but was made public in a meager edition of 500 CDs, that sold out during the pre-sale.

Arkansas is the third album that has surfaced as part of the Bunny Boy Project. The core of the project was an episodic web series, about a man of questionable mental health searching for his brother, who mysteriously disappeared. In response to the web series, the band crafted The Bunny Boy, an album that saw the band returning to their zenith of musical achievement, their disturbingly surreal albums of the late 70s and early 80s. The Bunny Boy fell short however, as it still latched onto the highly narrative story telling of 21st century Residents.

As the “b-side” album to The Bunny Boy, Arkansas succeeds where its predecessor fails. The songs on Arkansas where cut from the original album, are alternate recordings, or where written for the world tour of The Bunny Boy. In this context, they lack a strong narrative that would subvert the fantastic compositions (which was the case with the original album). The lyrical content truly feels dream like. The music is eerily synthetic, and uncomfortably open. Unlike The Bunny Boy, Arkansas actually approaches Duck Stab territory. Don’t get me wrong, the band isn’t trying to relive past success, the songs on Arkansas sound remarkably fresh, and manage to not sound like experimentation.

I don’t understand why this is so limited. Arkansas stands out as one of the stronger Residents albums, especially from those of the last decade. I’d love to see them continue in this direction, but I doubt they will, as they’re always reinventing themselves.