Last year the Residents celebrated the 50th anniversary of their debut, Meet the Residents. But the theatrical, quixotically anonymous band, who’ve been in costume longer than KISS, are still full of piss and vinegar and recently released longtime-in-the-making true crime concept album Doctor Dark, based in part on the 1990 heavy metal trial around two disturbed teenagers’ suicide pact, allegedly inspired by listening to Judas Priest.
With crushing, claustrophobic soundscapes and creepy FX-wrenching vocals, the album’s three-act opera, complete with mad orchestration from classical conductor Edwin Outwater, evokes the specter of the late Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the famous assisted suicide proponent.
“A Residents project always starts with the tiniest crumb, then goes where that trail of crumbs leads them,” says Homer Flynn, the Residents’ costume designer and “spokesperson” since 1976 (and rumored to be in the group, but who would know?). “That crumb’s got to lead them somewhere.”
Doctor Dark started for the Residents with the botched 1985 suicide pact between James Vance and Raymond Belknap (Belknap died, Vance sustained life-altering injuries), and 1992’s documentary Dream Deceivers and the blame put on Judas Priest.
“Holding no blame for themselves, the parents sued Judas Priest and its record label for corrupting their sons with their music’s supposedly evil backwards messages, blahblahblah,” notes Flynn. The Residents were mesmerized by Dream Deceivers, but knew they couldn’t leave a bad story alone.
“That’s when bringing in a character based on Dr. Kevorkian came into play,” says Flynn. “The Residents wanted “Doctor Dark” to meet the surviving teenager from that suicide pact, and make their own path, find their own solution.”
It’s not a pop album. Distinct from other Residents releases, which is saying something considering the band’s typically abstract output, Doctor Dark makes a socio-political statement about who owns one’s life. “The Residents were aware they were making that statement, even though it wasn’t their intention. That’s just another path the Residents were willing to play out,” the shadowy Mr. Flynn tells us.
