Appearing at the tail end of 2022, The Residents 50th-anniversary, Faceless Forever is a nearing three hundred paged encyclopaedia focusing on the highly creative, but often cryptic/ puzzling career of this highly distinctive avant-pop come multimedia art collective. It’s a book that will appeal to those new to the project, and long-term fans- as it’s a great mix of key facts, figures, and release- as well as the more obscure/ lesser known.

The oversized A5 hardback tome features a simple but classy cover, with the project's instantly recognisable top hat ‘n’ eye set in the fifty-anniversary design on the front cover- with white text set on a plain black. It runs two hundred and ninety-four pages in total- with it being a purely text-based affair. It was published by Cherry Red Books, and can only be brought direct from them- to find out more drop by here, where it can also be purchased with the Santa Dog 2022 seven-inch single 

The book's two main authors are uber Resident fans/ collectors Jim Khipfel and Brian Poole( of UK avant pop two-piece Renaldo And The Loaf).With contributions from other notable figures in The Residents fandom like Chris Combs, Paulie Kraynak, Andreas Mathews( who runs The Eyeball Museum In Germany) , and The Resident’s themselves

After a two-page introduction, we’re straight into the meat of the book- this is laid out into a standard encyclopaedia layout moving from 0-9, through to A to Z. Each of the entries run between a few hundred words to several pages- and it really is a truly fascinating tome.

To give personal context I’ve been a fan of the project since the late 1990s, and really( stupidly) thought I knew all there was to know about the project, it’s releases, tours, and mythos. And the book is full of facts and details of folks connecting to the collective I wasn’t aware of- and these really did make my fans' heart sing- and I’m sure even the most knowable fan will learn more than a few things they didn’t know with these pages. For example, there was a Residents side project called Black Tar And The Cry Babies set up key songwriter Hardy Fox in 1982. The project where working on a Civil War album in 2000’s, the band's real singer is named Gomer- who has apparently been missing since the 60’s, and much, much more.

But equally, if you're new to the project you get good/ informative write-ups about each of the project's releases and their offshoots, their live shows, and details of key figures from over the project's last fifty years of existence. It’s all written in a very readable/ never pretensions manner- making it a joy to dip in and out, whether you’re a hardcore fan, or a newbie.
 
In finishing Faceless Forever is a truly frustrating read- laid out in a highly approachable manner, really crammed as full as it can be. It's a  great end to the band's fifty years celebration, and here’s to many, many years to come from the project, who are currently touring once again.