THE RESIDENTS
Metal, Meat And Bone
(Cherry Red)
★★★★

SAN FRAN art group The Residents return with possibly their most important homage to date.

Known for paying conceptual tribute over the years to giants like The Beatles and Elvis, this time the faceless oddballs — or should we say eyeballs — have released a fitting eulogy to long-lost Louisiana bluesman Alvin "Dyin' Dog" Snow.

Having last year put out his entire oeuvre — a humble 7" box set of original 1970s demos — The Residents have now made a covers album of their beloved anti-hero's remarkable music.

Electronic flourishes aplenty, The Residents still manage to capture the rawness of Dyin' Dog's blues.

On Bury My Bone, Randy Rose's singing making the perfect match to Alvin's gravely and guttural style.

Elsewhere they make the bluesman's music sound almost melodic. A second disc features Dyin Dog's originals, so listeners can decide themselves which they prefer. An important document to a lost musical gem.

KILLDREN
Dismembers Of Parliament
(Self-released)
★★★★

TURBO-CHARGED rave-punk duo Killdren had a real PR coup last year after Conservatives got offended by their track Kill Tory Scum (Before They Kill You) — can't think why — which led to their Glastonbury slot being pulled.

Now Killdren have released an album of equally explosive political poetry from singer Efa Supertramp, complemented by the group's trademark hi-octane speed-electronics courtesy of producer Nick Ronin, and Russell Taysom's cartoon gore artwork depicting a foodbank issuing canned corpse meat on a conveyor belt.

The Chris Morris-sampled Expect A Crimewave addresses the crimes of tax cuts for the wealthy and arms sales abroad, while Mind The Gap acerbically tackles class divide with banks for the rich and foodbanks for the poor.

There's even a reference to Covid-19 on No More Normal with the lyrics "the sickness arrived long before the virus.”

We couldn't have put it better ourselves.