The Residents—Mark of the Mole

The Residents—Mark of the Mole

Mark of the Mole—Ambitious projects have fickle natures. The essence of the avant-garde poses more problems for the persistent artist, as the ability to furnish one's work is often reliant on the overall appeal of it all. The Residents have always been uncompromising, even subversive, titling their latest LP in 1980 "The Commercial Album." Until that point, the group always worked within the confines of a single production, even if the idea was grand. Their numerous albums and the scrapped Vileness Fats were all more or less self-contained. Eskimo (1979) was a challenging effort, but not a massive undertaking—then came Mark of the Mole.

The Residents are not primarily a touring band, which is not surprising, given the principles of the collective. The eyeball costumes first conceived for the cover of Eskimo gave them an approach to stage performance that allowed concealment of their identities while maintaining a certain other physiognomy. Their true intentions are not known, but Mole may not have begun life as a grandiose performance act; it was not until its follow-up The Tunes of Two Cities that the band commenced its supporting tour, "The Mole Show." It was either intended to be the first of any number of "Mole" albums (sources vary as to this quantity) or was just a single item that the Residents later decided to expand upon. Most agree that it was intended as a trilogy; The Big Bubble (1985) purported to be "Part Four of the Mole Trilogy," but this may have been a simple joke after the eventual failure of the Mole Show.

Mark of the Mole is the story of the Moles and the Chubs, who are forced to live together in the land of the Chubs when endless rain drives the Moles from their own. It is possible the catalyst for this story was something that happened to the Residents¹ or any number of existing works,² but Mole is generally treated as a pure fiction. The foreboding "Voices of the Air" seems to correspond to the abstract art on the album cover: the Moles live in a craggy underground society, suddenly unusually cloudy and breezy according to Penn Jillette's narration given in the form of a radio broadcast. "The Pit" is about to be overcome by heavy rain, which proves to be "The Ultimate Disaster." The Moles only wish to toil, worshiping darkness and a god that is referred to in related media as "Disposer." The Residents' music here is rhythmic, understated, and tribal, reflecting a rustic society. The Moles relish an uneasy calm, but as sirens and rushing water begin to be heard, they lament their impending exodus.

The unnamed speaking Mole appears to prophesy and channel his god, with a sinister voice superimposed over his words. He and the Moles conclude that there is salvation by the sea, and the chaos fades out and calmly back in as "Migration." The Moles are optimistic as they march; the music is subdued, but from a relative view this is to be taken as buoyant and cheery. The listener is introduced to the "Observer" character, who is never explicitly mentioned before or after this point. He states that the Moles move at night, and also alludes to a previous time of strife. The Moles eventually make it to "Another Land," when the Chubs speak for the first time. They seem to have only a vague understanding of whence the Moles come and see in them low-cost labor, looking to exploit their propensity to work tirelessly. The music that comes with the Chubs is uncharacteristic of their "cheap thrills" society and more reflects their sinister nature in the eyes of the Moles. The Moles line up for work and not all are given employment, suggesting overpopulation in the newly-integrated society.

Conditions seem to have stabilized as "The New Machine" begins. An engineer, who is a Mole or at least a sympathizer, proclaims he will build a "great machine" that will release the Moles from their effective slavery. The Chubs meanwhile whip themselves into a frenzy over paranoid claims that the Moles will overrun their society and "steal [their] daughters." The engineer initially fails, but with great perseverance completes his machine. This incites an uprising as he had hoped, and the Chubs jeer the Moles bitterly. The Moles are more reserved in their response to the conflict, but "The Final Confrontation" nonetheless develops. The brief conflict is represented by dissonant noise and synthesizer-sirens, eventually culminating in a wash of screams and earthen croaking. The coda is plodding and peaceful by comparison, yet tense and haunting. The liner notes to The Big Bubble indicate that the war did not end with a definite victor.

Mark of the Mole certainly comes out of left field, but it is a compelling and surprisingly relatable story. It is unmusical, but there is a genuine sense of the Moles' culture in what music does exist, and the soundscapes illustrate well the environmental conditions and settings. The lyrics and spoken words do not always clearly indicate their meanings, but the rest of the package usually gives enough context to infer the feelings and story cues. The climactic but uncertain resolution of the story and the promise of a rich, larger world leave the listener wanting more, and the grotesque characters somehow invoke compassion.

---

1 residents.com/historical4/mole/page3/page3.php^↩
2 gio80.com/mark-of-the-mole^↩