Customer Reviews

Duck Stab

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This terrific disc is comprised of two EPs ("Duck Stab" and "Buster & Glen"), and it represents one of the best albums from the group's 'classic' period (1972-80). The songs are fairly linear and the lyrics are even sung clearly, but don't take this to mean that they've become radio friendly. These catchy little numbers are 14 nightmarish excursions into the demented nursery of the Residents, and after you've weathered one sitting they'll continue to poke at your brain for days. This was their best selling release at the time, and helped push their mystique further into the attention of the American underground. Les Claypool has named this album as one of his favorites (Primus has covered "Sinister Exaggerator," "Constantinople" and "Hello Skinny") and much of the warped style on Ween's "The Pod" and "Pure Guava" albums can be traced back to this record. It also features some excellent guitar work by the late Snakefinger (aka Philip Charles Lithman). This CD is required listening for fans of fringe artists and unusual music, and it's easily an essential Residents title.

The Residents are known for their arty experimentalism on avant-garde discs like Eskimo, Third Reich N' Roll, and Not Availible. However, Duck Stab/Buster And Glen revealed a new side to the ol' op-tops. Released in 1978, it was a combo of two EPs that showcased short, concise songs with understandible lyrics-then put through the Resdiential wringer. The result is what can be described as Top 40 for space aliens. Opener "Constantinople" is one of the three undisputed classics on this album, graced with constantly appearing on setlists and covers by Primus. The track is an eerie ditty bringing to mind creepy electronica. The second classic, "Sinister Exaggerator", is a slow and surreal nightmare with lyrics about god-knows-what. The other classic, "Hello Skinny", is a cool tune consisting of bass, clarinet, and echoed vocals.
However, many of the "non-classics" are just as good, some even better. "Blue Rosebuds" is a fantastic love song that shifts gears from surreal to psychotic; "The Booker Tease" is a dirty instrumental with cop-show guitar courtesy of Snakefinger; "The Laughing Song" is a eerie se shanty sung by a redneck; "Bach Is Dead" has a melody that sounds like someone scratching on a balloon and has a famous bridge of three quarter-notes; "Elvis And Is His Boss" is a hilarious splice of the Batman theme and heavy techno, and it even has a I-IV-V progression (!); "Lizard Lady" is an angry little piece of synth goodness; "Semolina" is a harmony-driven ballad; "Birthday Boy" is a demented child's song; "Weight-Lifting Lulu" sounds like a surf tune on tranquilizers; "Krafty Cheese" sounds like nothing lees than an invasion by robot gardeners (you'll see); and "The Electrocutioner" is a 2-parter: a manic blast of squeals, and a slow drift, both sung by some creepy lady.
All in all, Duck Stab/Buster And Glen may not be The Residents' best album, most it's their most accessible while being a fan favorite at the same time. Groovy!

I purchased this album when it was first released on vinyl just on the merits of the opening track "Constantinople." It is a skewed, energetic setting for trivial, almost non-existent lyrics. It's funny, clever, and bizarre.

This is a wonderful 'pressing' packaged very handsomely in a CD-sized, glossy hardcover book. I first discovered that Residents albums were being packaged this way when I recently picked up the two double-album discs comprising the so-called 'Mole Trilogy.' I decided to take a chance on this disc (as well as The Commercial Album) and was very happily surprised to see that these, too, had been released in these wonderful packages, with booklets containing artwork and lyrics. My only complaint with the packaging is that the shrink wrap was pulling the binding over at a bad angle, but neither the booklet nor the disc seem to have been permanently harmed.

For my money, the two albums in The Residents' "American Composer" series are the ones I listen to most often, but this single-CD compilation of two old classic LPs is still worth having, if not for "Constantinople," then for the eerie "Hello Skinny."

Amazon sadly does not include this seminal band in their list of "Essentials" artists, but if they did, Duck Stab would top the list. It was made right at the apex of their creativity, so their earlier weirdness has been refined and the later blandness hasn't kicked in yet. It's also their least "conceptual" album, being simply a collection of a dozen or so three-minute songs. It's plenty "weird", as all Res albums are, but it never crosses the line into outright ugliness, as their "Third Reich" album does. The lack of a concept also helped keep them from falling into self-indulgence as happened a few times on other albums.

Anyway, if you don't like this one, you probably just won't like the Residents ever. And if you can't get yourself to like the Residents, well, then God help ya.

Question: Do the Residents hate Rock N' Roll? Answer: Yes, and these are the Rock N' Roll songs they made to prove it.

For the most part, the Residents perform primitive operas and melted down cover tunes. "Duck Stab / Buster & Glen" however combined 2 EP's of original Residents Rock N' Roll - or at least something resembling rock music.

If you listen to this CD, it's unlikely that you will ever get these 'tunes' out of your brain. Oh, and don't expect the Residents to play nice once they've taken up residence in your head. The Residents mean to hurt you with this one.

In the classified ads section of Rolling Stone when I was in high school this group called the Residents kept begging me to buy one of their albums. Of course, I always wanted to (being a kid, you always want to please people), but never did (being a kid, I had no money to indulge on the Residents).

Back in 1978, I lived, for a brief period of time, in Denver, Colorado. As part of my passage of time, I would hang around in Wax Trax and look for something new to listen to, mostly punk rock and new wave albums. On the shelfs were some Residents stuff, mainly "Meet the Residents, Fingerprince, and two EP's named "Duck Stab" and Buster and Glenn".

I avoided the EP's, not wanting to pay the money, but did pick up the other two. While I thought the Residents were, well, wierd, I didn't know then that I would become the fan I am today (at 45, being a Residents fan - and a grandfather - seems a bit out of synch with reality).

Soon, Duck Stab and Buster and Glen were put together as one, and I bought it.

I was astonished. These weren't the noodlings of some art group - this was pop music! Constantinople drove me nuts with its singer (whose singing to date I can compare to scraping my fingernails onto a chalk board) The Laughing Song cracked me up, because it is like listening to an inside joke (which it probably is) Elvis and His Boss predates cube-e, and is probably the best parody of Elvis ever done by the one eyed wonders. Weight-Lifting Lulu is dark, and beautiful Hello Skinny is my favorite song in the entire album, and The Electrocutioner hooked me to the Residents forever.

If you're looking for some songs written and performed by the Residents this is the album to find them in, every song is original, no two are the same, and they're all good (if strangely arranged and played). This is an essential Residents album.

Have you ever been in that zone when you're so depressed that you actually feel knid of happy ot so full of joy that you feel like crying for an hour? The Residents live in this zone and thrive on chaos. Sounding like a combination of Mr. Bungle and Radiohead years a decade before either band was formed, the one-eyed wonders know your deepest hopes, your deepest fears, and will ruthlessly exploit them, making this a very important album to anyone who dares purchase or download it. 1,000 words cannot describe the wonder that is Duck Stab/Buster and Glenn. Just buy it today and you'll be happy. Trust me, I know these things.

This is definitely one of their best albums, it has nice tunes, more silly voices and quare instrumentation. A lot of these songs rock quite hard, like constantinople which builds itself up to an intense climax. Booker tease is a nice little instrumental with electric guitar and saxophone. Blue rosebuds is one of the best songs on the album, and contains the phrase 'their finest flowers' which is one of their album names. Electrocutioner is perhaps the most unsettling song, it has very agitated vocals but also it has a lovely,calming end. The songs are all very unusual but never too difficult to listen to. If you like 'weird' music like this you should also dig the likes of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart. Chances are that you already do! Thank you

Yes this is a nice album, "bach is dead" indeed!
However it needs to be said that there are a couple of versions of this album, some of which have less than 17 songs, but much better sound
(one guy who heard the new version told me it was as much better than the cd as the cd was over the record)
This is one of the classic Residents albums from their early and best period (along with eskimo, commercial, and third riech an roll) and everybody interested in unusual music should get a listen.

The music is strange and sinister and the lyrics are completely out of this world. If you want something COMPLETELY different, this is the cd for you. It's got "Sinister Exaggerator" which Primus covered so well, and 17 other songs which will leave you bewildered, wondering what drugs these guys like.