The Residents Announce New Album, Share "Die! Die! Die!" with Black Francis

Wren Graves

May 19, 2020 | 9:21am ET

The veteran art-rock collective The Residents have announced a new double-disc album called METAL, MEAT & BONE: The Songs of Dyin’ Dog. The first single, “Die! Die! Die!”, comes with a Trump and coronavirus-inspired music video, along with unhinged vocals from Black Francis of Pixies. METAL, MEAT & BONE arrives July 10th, and if you’re wondering, “Who’s this Dyin’ Dog?”, The Residents have provided a typically cracked answer.

According to a statement, Dyin’ Dog was a bluesman from the 1970s born with the name Alvin Snow. Before his mysterious disappearance on January 13th, 1976, Dyin’ Dog apparently recorded a ten-song demo. As the story goes, The Residents were fortunate enough to rediscover this long-lost masterpiece, and have now used it as the basis for METAL, MEAT & BONE. The new album features the, ahem, “original” ten-song demo, as well as ten interpretations of those demos by The Residents, along with six new songs inspired by Dyin’ Dog. To fill you in on the details, the Residents have put together something very much like a documentary on Dyin’ Dog, which you can check out below.

If lead single “Die! Die! Die!” is any indication, Mr. Alvin Snow wasn’t the happiest of fellows. “Die, die, die!” Black Francis roars, “I want to hear you moan!” It’s a shockingly violent vocal performance from the Pixies frontman, who hasn’t sounded this murderous in decades. The accompanying music video stars President Donald Trump as the a coronavirus, while smiling, googly-eyed COVID-19 viruses float and bop to the music. Scroll onwards to watch “Die! Die! Die!”