The Residents

Those who suspect that the Residents are limited only to twinkling studio debauchery will definitely change their minds with this release. Roadworms functions somewhat as a companion piece to Wormwood, the ocularly dressed quartet's challengingly peculiar theatrical adaptation of select stories extracted from the Bible. For Roadworms, the band entered a Berlin recording studio where they could record the altered arrangements crafted for the Wormwood tour in a "live off of the floor" manner, without the need of wearing their bulky eyeball costumes. What evolves is a refreshing way of hearing the band's emblematic kaleidoscope of music, executed with tight perfection, coming off sounding as professional as a great '70s studio band. (Ironically, the first track is an adaptation of Grand Funk's "We're An American Band," named "Un-American Band.") As for the musical content, imagine a snake charmer hanging out with the Jetsons in the '80s. Or, simply put, they're the Residents!