Review
The Residents
Animal Lover

Mute (2005) — Kevin Fitzpatrick

The Residents – Animal Lover cover artwork
The Residents – Animal Lover — Mute, 2005

The Residents are an anomaly. This is an age where most music is the same regardless of how deep the scratch is. But whether their music is at its most simplistic and frivolous, or challenging and complex, there's an underlying malevolence beneath the songs that somehow make it seem all the more beautiful.

Animal Lover is the group's umpteenth recording and is probably the group's most accessible album to date. Another concept album, though this time using a concept of animals or something. I mean, they wear giant eyeballs for christsakes. Who the hell knows what they're trying to say? They make Fellini look like Nora Ephron. I know there are lots of Residents fans who love to analyze every single note and lyric, but you know what? Life's just too damn short; I have laundry to do.

Animal Lover is a much gentler listen than the previous Demons Dance Alone album - smoother transitions from track to track give it an almost soundtrack-type feel. Albeit a soundtrack to a film that'll probably never show in a town you live in and probably features something to do with Satan.

The Residents – Animal Lover cover artwork
The Residents – Animal Lover — Mute, 2005

Recently-posted album reviews

Sweeping Promises

You Say I Romanticize
Sub Pop (2026)

What strikes me foremost about this record are the vocals. As the father of a 13 y.o. daughter I feel qualified to say that this person could be a pop singer. I mean I don’t really know what it takes to be one, although I’m sure that it’s more than a voice good enough to win a game show, I’ve … Read more

Moonraker

Me and the Bells
Punkerton Records (2026)

I have probably talked about this before, I knew of Moonraker through split EPs and things like that, but they didn't fully pop into my consciousness until The Forest. Me and the Bells, four years later, is their follow-up full-length and it continues the trajectory from that record while still capturing its own distinct vibe. Musically the band is heavily … Read more

Dreamwell

Hymns for the Denial of God
Prosthetic (2026)

Some records make their intentions obvious from the very beginning. They use the same structure that countless bands have for decades: verse, chorus, breakdown, payoff, and the blunt force of explaining what you are supposed to feel. Hymns for the Denial of God does something much more complex. It’s a series of difficult questions no one wants to answer, proposed … Read more