The new Fall line-up

wow, Reformation sucks. I have every album this band has made and this is the first one I can't bring myself to defend.

See, The Fall is that rare band where I can still get a new record of theirs and not really "get it" until the third listen. This isn't always the case, but Reformation was one of those. At first it just seemed badly recorded, needlessly repetitive, and worn through... but eventually all of these qualities seemed to merge into a more visionary record, one that has a considerably higher quotient of strangeness and mystery than anything they've done since Levitate, although I wouldn't say it's better than all of the intervening albums. It's kind of a zen Fall album — acceptance of growing old ("White Line Fever"), intimations of mortality ("Coach and Horses," gusts of cold-air guitar), tangled guitar line over ghoul-voiced tale-telling ("Insult Song"), soft-spoken reminders of venomous sentiment ("My Door").

By contrast Fall Heads Roll was fun but somewhat more direct, straight-ahead, and slick. I like it too, though. And I can't wait for the new one.

"Reformation" is history.
"Imperial Wax Solvent" is the future.

saw what i believe was this lineup's very first show, last time they were thru mpls was right after he fired the other dudes.
Hey I was at that show, too. In the upstairs we convinced our friend to eat a hard Cheeto we found in the couch. MES sang through two mics and kept turning the bass player down/off, who looked angry. And then I heard this exchange after the set: "Alright man, I saw the Fall with you, not bad, I still don't get it, but not bad." "That's ok, I've seen Hot Hot Heat with you three times and I still don't get that." Buhzing!

Heads Roll was a great album. Need to hear this new one.

No, not a new lineup as far as I know, still this excellent one. New album rumored for September on Cherry Red. Anyone know more?

Isn't it going to be "Greek heavy metal" as MES has been banging on about for the past year now.

It will be The Fall - always different, always the same.

i saw a live clip of a new song with the new band and they were pretty heavy, drummer was a monster

I completely and totally retract my comments about Reformation above, I was wrong and it is actually a damn good album.

I think it has some very high points ("Reformation", "Fall Sound", "My Door Is Never" and "Das Boat") but the other half leaves me cold.

In my opinion, that was the best band he's had since the Scanlon/Hanley/Wolstencroft group.

No idea which Fall thread in which to post.

The 'new lineup' is still going strong. "Wise Ol' Man" EP out now, the title track is solid, some of the new versions of tracks from the last album are good too. Nothing earth shattering.

Thanks for bringing my attention to this. Yeah I've never bought that "grandma on bongos" jibe as for me, the band was as much about bassist Steve Hanley as Mark E... new lineup's ok tho, fun to compare with Ought ;)

I mostly stopped paying attention after Extricate! and it's only in recent years that I'm coming around to the later period stuff and digging out the nuggets. Prompted by stumbling across "Touch Sensitive" from "The Marshall Suite" and before that being alerted that "Sparta 2XX" was now canon.

what a band.

I held on a little longer, through Fall Heads Roll, but I don't think I bought anything after that though I've heard all of them at least once; my take was that they started to get a bit samey from that point on. I should revisit since I was pretty passionate up through Real New Fall LP.

Imperial Wax Solvent (2008) I'd argue was the most vital after Real New Fall LP.

Our Future Your Clutter by far the best post Heads Roll

otm i am jamming this all the time

ums otm

their albums were generally good up to the very end but OFYC was the last one where they really knocked it out of the park

^^^^^this

the new Imperial Wax album is really good though and maybe better than anything since then! if you can stand to hear them without mark

I would probably rate the last 10 years of the Fall in roughly this order:

Imperial Wax Solvent
Your Future Our Clutter
New Facts Emerge
Sub-Lingual Tablet
Re-mit
Reformation Post TLC
Ersatz GB

thats about right

Re-Mit is slightly underrated there but yes

I love "Loadstones" from Re-Mit

Οὖτις, don't sleep on the two 90s compilations "A Past Gone Mad" and "A World Bewitched". Those will give you the cream of the crop from that time period.

There's no single source for the best stuff from the 21st century but the recent "58 Golden Greats" gives a good sampling.

xp SLT and Re-Mit are pretty level in that list, the drop is after Re-Mit

I’m not a big fan of Heads Roll. The Peel versions of those tracks are so much more powerful that I almost never put it on. If the Heads Roll versions of “blindness” etc were the only ones around I’d probably think of it as a great record.

The Peel Blindness is smokin’

Our Future Your Clutter by far the best post Heads Roll

the difference though is that it really swings, whereas a lot of post-Country On The Click Fall just kinda goes up and down.

It might not be too off center to hear YFOC as a Fall "blues" album.

what's the best book on the band?

Stephen Hanley's memoir is my favorite of the three I've read. All three were worthwhile though (Hanley memoir, Brix memoir, Mick Middles band history). I would avoid Renegade. I have never seen a copy of Hip Priest.

this documentary is good too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InXwZc4RS7M

The Steve Hanley book is terrific but is almost strictly a tour diary, there’s little to no insight into the music.

I wouldn’t avoid Renegade! You just have to accept it’s skewed, incomplete, slapdash. Still enjoyable I thought.

Looking fwd to the Paul Hanley book on Hex Enduction Hour, not yet gettable stateside

I have it, hoping to read it tonight

pls report!

almost strictly a tour diary, there’s little to no insight into the music.

dang this is very disappointing, noted

(I've read the Brix book, which I liked, and The Fallen, which is also very enjoyable)

Sleeve you will like the Hanley book

Yeah it’s excellent

OK thanks

I wouldn't bother with the Simon Wolstencroft one, for the most part it's a "played gig, took drugs, slept with groupie, then the next day.."

Lol there is a Simon wolstencroft one
My friend has the Paul Hanley I’m gonna try to borrow it when he’s done

sleeping with groupies feels like sackable behaviour in the fall, surely

renegade's hilarious. there's a bit where the first US tour is mentioned and how karl burns couldn't fly out because his passport had been chewed up by a dog... a few pages later, mark talks about the group posing for a photoshoot with a dog for the record cover of 'room to live' and says "come to think of it, i think it was the same dog that ate karl's passport."

'Renegade' is a fairly enjoyable ramble, the shaggy dog version rather than the historically accurate version of the story. The Fall as MES saw them on that day.

I liked the Steve Hanley book, it is diary-like but a little more than just a tour diary! It's the chronological story of hist time in The Fall. I got quite a lot out of reading the story from his perspective, bought it from the merchandise stand after seeing Brix and the Extricated and it prompted my most intense period of exploring the Fall catalogue.

yeah steve's book is excellent... it's the fall book i'd recommend before any other (i've read all but renegade and the mick middles book).

Just talking to a guy in my work who says one of MES's sisters was trying to sell a lot of MES memorabilia in the Music Video Exchange in Manchester and a friend of his, who is a massive Fall fan, heard about it and bought a lot of stuff off her.

One person's junk being another's 'priceless' relic.

Makes me wonder who was in charge of his will (could you even imagine what it must have read like?) and looked after all his affairs and possessions.

Well,

One time, I'd bought some back issue magazines off "Jamming" and they were sent in a reused envelope. I peeled off the sticker to find it had previously been used by Barclays Bank to send to Paul Weller, "Respond records" etc.

Anyway, I told this to someone at a party, and he offered me a fiver for it. I told him not to be so daft.

To clarify further, she actually sold him the stuff in the street not in the shop, it was a "How much will you give me for the lot" thing.

What sort of ephemera, do you know?

I'm not sure exactly but white labels, test pressings, signed records(?) were mentioned, a guitar was also mentioned but somehow I doubt MES would have had one of those!

One person's junk being another's 'priceless' relic.

― Mark G

you mean, like, your future our clutter?

Just got the Hanley book on Kindle. Thx for the tip folx!

lol they had two copies of the Brix book at the library so I got one out

you mean, like, your future our clutter?

― tantric societal collapse (rushomancy), Saturday, November 16, 2019 6:52 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

You know it!

the Brix book is p interesting - alternately lurid and loopy, occasionally insightful, obviously much more about her and her ridiculous life, with Mark coming on as a walk-on star about halfway through. Enjoyable as trashy vacation reading.

most gratifying tidbit so far was that Mark was a cat guy.

You don't see rabbits being walked down the street
And you don't see many cats on leads
Dogs pet dogs dogs rapacious wet dogs
Owner of dogs slow-witted dog owner
Owner of rabid dog saving fare for tunnel
Euro-dream of civil, civil liberation for dogs
Society secret society inevitable nightmare
Of drift dog pet dogs street bullshit
Dog shit baby bit ass-lick dog mirror
Dead tiger shot and checked out by dog
Big tea-chest-fucker dog
Black collar sends East German refugee back switch and crap pathetic
Of earth-like lousy dog role model for infidel doghouse continent
Most citadel dog-eye mirror hypnotic school slaver and learn
Rot from dog on grass and over nervous delicate dog
Detracts light from indiscrepant non-dog-lover
Dog pet dog come home to ya
Come home we'll talk shit to ya
Dog the pet-owner-owner blistered hanging there death dog
Plato of the human example and copier dogmaster pet mourner
Dog is life

Damien Abraham from Fucked Up has a podcast Turned Out a Punk, the episode with Brix is great, such a great story