Duck Stab/Buster & Glen Explained

Duck Stab/Buster & Glen
Type:	studio
Artist:	the Residents
Cover:	Duck_Stab_Buster.jpg
Released:	November 30, 1978
Recorded:	October 1977–August 1978
Genre:	Experimental rock
Length:	34:30
Producer:	The Residents
Prev Title:	Not Available
Prev Year:	1978
Next Title:	Eskimo
Next Year:	1979

Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen, later renamed Duck Stab, is the fifth studio album by American art rock group the Residents, released in November 1978.

It is named after the first side of the album, Duck Stab!, a seven-song EP released earlier in 1978; Buster and Glen, the B-side of the album, was intended to follow Duck Stab!. After the first pressing of Duck Stab! quickly sold out, which was an oddity for the band, they decided to re-release it as one side of an album, with the unreleased Buster and Glen as side two. This was also in part due to the poor audio quality of the original Duck Stab! EP.^[1]

The shorter length of the songs made the album more accessible for fans who had recently heard the band's cover of "Satisfaction", and songs like "Constantinople" and "Hello Skinny" helped cement the band's cult following. Some noted that the Residents were approaching commercial elements with this EP, but they were purposefully avoiding others, such as a traditional chorus/verse structure.^[2] This album features guitar by Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman.

Critical reception

Duck Stab was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[3] In 2018, Andy Gill of The Independent wrote that "as nursery rhymes, [the songs on ''Duck Stab''] blend the sinister with the simple; and as cartoons, they’re the musical equivalent of Tex Avery, constantly playing with their medium and breaking the frame."

Track listing

All tracks written and composed by the Residents, except "Sinister Exaggerator" by the Residents and Snakefinger.

1987 CD bonus tracks

Tracks 15-18 taken from the 1980 EP Diskomo/Goosebump.

2018 pREServed edition

Personnel

• The Residents – arranger, producer
• Snakefinger – vocals, electric guitar
• Ruby – vocals on "The Electrocutioner"
• G. Whifler – photography
• Pore No Graphics - cover art

Covers

• "Blue Rosebuds" was covered by Shock Headed Peters on the compilation album Devastate to Liberate in December 1985.
• Primus released a medley of the songs "Hello Skinny" and "Constantinople" on the Caroline Records compilation promotional CD On the Nineties Tip... in 1990, and included it as a bonus track on the 2002 reissue of Frizzle Fry. Shortly afterward, they covered "Sinister Exaggerator" on their 1992 EP Miscellaneous Debris. In the UK, it was on the CD single "Making Plans for Nigel (Cheesy EP 2)."
• "Bach is Dead" was covered by Idiot Flesh on their 1997 album Fancy.
• "Hello Skinny" and "The Electrocutioner" was covered by Flat Earth Society on their 2000 album Bonk.
• Friendly Rich and the Lollipop People covered "Blue Rosebuds" on their 2010 album The Sacred Prune of Remembrance.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Historical - The Residents: Duck Stab. 2018-05-14.
2. Web site: The Seeds That Turn Into Tomorrow (Duck Stab!) Grandpa Gio and The Residents. gio80. en-US. 2019-06-07.
3. Book: Blacklock, Mark. Robert. Dimery. The Residents: Duck Stab/Buster & Glen. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe Publishing. 2006. 978-0-7893-1371-3. 405.