The Fall: Grotesque (After the Gramme)

The Fall: Grotesque (After the Gramme)

1980

Castle Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Pay Your Rates  2. English Scheme  3. New Face in Hell  4. C'n'C-S Mithering  5. The Container Drivers  6. Impression of J. Temperance  7. In the Park  8. W.M.C. – Blob 59  9. Gramme Friday  10. The N.W.R.A.  11. How I Wrote 'Elastic Man  12. City Hobgoblins  13. Totally Wired  14. Putta Block  15. Self Interview


As much as I appreciate and love Mark E Smith's more recent, incoherent, drunken, insane, babbling work there's just no way around the fact that once upon a time Mark E Smith was one of the finest lyricists of all-time (come to think of it, he still might be, but not because he's honed his skills or even came close to maintaining his craft. It more has to do with how little everyone tries these days).  And "Grotesque" contains at least two of his most epic, lyrical masterpieces, in the form of "C'n'C-S Mithering" and "The N.W.R.A."

"C'n'C-S Mithering"  is a cranky, exhausted, hilarious look at the Fall's chosen profession (played on a slightly out of tune acoustic guitar). He takes us from a dance party in a Cash N' Carry to the California offices of "Big A&M Herb." The most amusing bits (to me) are his well-worded takedowns of the British new wave bands making it in the US at the time:

"All the English groups act like peasants with free milk, 
On a route to the loot, 
 To candy mountain, 
 Five wacky English proletariat idiots...

You think you've got it bad with thin ties, 
Miserable songs synthesized, or circles with 'A' in the middle, 
Make joke records, hang out with Gary Bushell, 
Go on Roundtable: "I like your single," 
(dopey Voice) "Yeah, great!" 
A circle of low IQ's. '
There are three rules of audience. 
My journalist acquaintances, go soft, go places, 
On record company expenses. 
 I lose humor, manners become bog writers, don't know it. 
The smart hedonists, 
same as last verse, allusions with H in electronics, 
on stage false histrionics, 
Dogs mauling dicks, 
pose through a good film..."

This is  also where Mark E Smith tackles the Johnny Rotten comparisons. Just all around brilliant if you're a close listener. If you're more casual with your music listening the song probably won't register at all (until that ferocious snare roll into "Containment Drivers" blasts your head off). 

And "The N.W.R.A" would probably make a bit more sense to me if I wasn't a yank (I yank it often, in fact), but I love the slightly apocalyptic vibe of tossed bricks and  toppled governments. And the callbacks to other Fall songs are intriguing fun ("Junior Choice played one morning. The song was 'English Scheme.' Mine. They'd changed it with a grand piano and turned It into a love song. How they did it I don't know. DJs had worsened since the rising. Elaborating on nothing in praise of The track with words they could hardly pronounce, in telephone voices."). 

Lots of other goodies here too. "English Scheme" is great dinky-keyboard driven pop, "New Face in Hell" invents Pavement.  And most fascinating is possibly "Impression of J. Temperance," which is another horror epic in the mold of "Spector Vs Rector" except waaaayyy more unnerving. As a creepy  bassline crawls out of the speakers Mark tells the story of a guy who impregnates his dog and everybody watches in horror as a human/puppy hybrid is born (at least that's what I get out of the song).   

Fantastic album. One of their best, I think. It's where the band's signature sound comes together. A sort of bass-driven amphetamine rockabilly with scratchedy guitars and Mark E Smtih's honking sing/speak-a. Addictive as hell once you're accustomed to it. Be sure to snag the copy that has the "How I Wrote Elastic Man" and "Totally Wired" singles, since they contain some of the album's best tracks. "Totally Wired" is a complete classic and should have resulted in the Fall playing stadiums to throngs of adoring fans (which I'm sure Mark would immediately alienate) and "Putta Block" is catchy and melancholy and wonderful. 

Let's listen to some music. Here's "English Scheme" by the Fall...Enjoy...

The Fall : It's The New Thing! The Step Forward Years

The Fall : It's The New Thing! The Step Forward Years

Castle Music

2003

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Psycho Mafia  2. Repetition  3. It's The New Thing!  4. Frightened  5. Crap Rap 2 - Like To Blow  6. Rebellious Jukebox  7. No Christmas For John Quays  8. Industrial Estate  9. Futures And Pasts  10. Music Scene  11. Rowche Rumble  12. Psykick Dancehall  13. Flat Of Angles  14. Dice Man  15. Before The Moon Falls  16. Muzorewi's Daughter  17. Choc-Stock  18. Spectre Vs Rector  19. Second Dark Age  20. Fiery Jack

Despite the large number of Fall releases clogging up my shelves, I really only have a small portion of what the band put out, so to major league Fall fans, this run of Fall posts is going to be laughably incomplete. I'm missing some major classics, for sure. This can be blamed for my preference for finding music "in the wild." I really don't order music online. I prefer to haunt used record stores, etc. and the Fall have released a staggering amount of music and a lot of it just kinda goes in and out of print. So I don't intend this to be some in-depth overview of the band's oeuvre, it's just me continuing to listen to my record collection in alphabetical order and kinda outlining my random thoughts on each...

This is a compilation of the band's earliest material and my introduction to the Fall. You'll find that the band's sound and worldview was mostly in place from the start...

It starts off with a 2/3rds of their debut EP, "Bing Master's Break Out!" "Psycho Mafia" is a high-energy introduction to the band. Sloppy, slightly out of tune, the keyboards sound like a child's toy and over it all is bandleader (the man who is the Fall) Mark E Smith who sounds like a Manc Johnny Rotten. Y'see, Mark picked up Rotten's occasional vocal tic of adding an "a" to the end of the line and ran with it further than anyone could possibly imagine.

Imagine the guy-a on the pizza box-a! "Want to buy a pizz-a?!" That's the only way I can describe Mark's vocal tic. Oh, and he usually sounds positively gin-soaked and maniacal. Less gin-soaked on these early releases but you still get the whiff. So this is dingy, wired, trash-strewn post-punk. The key track here is "Repetition" where Mark accurately outlines the strategy that will serve the band to this very day, "This is the three R's! Repetition, Repetition, Repetition..." while the band drones on endlessly behind him in a slightly carnivalesque manner.  On paper, repetition and droning sound like tedious enterprises, but the Fall turn it into an exhilarating experience. They love the rut. The endless variations that inevitably arrive when you walk in the same circle for eons. Staring into infinity. 

We also have the a-side of their "1979" single "It's the New Thing," which is a great example of early Fall (and oh my god! Is that Mark E Smith smiling on the cover? With a full set of teeth?!?!) A bit more straight-punk energy rather than the rockabilly-influenced drone of their classic sound. Reveling in dissonance, yet with an anthemic energy they would eventually largely abandon.

This is followed by the bulk of the band's first full-length album "Live at the Witch Trials." It's missing three tracks ("Mother-Sister!," Underground Medecin" and "Two Steps Back"). "Live at the Witch Trials" is a straight-up classic post-punk album. Deep, bone-dry grooves with Mark unreeling his chants and rants against the apocalyptic backdrop. Endless, dreariness. Grey factories belching soot into overcast skies. The speed-induced paranoia outlined in "Frightened" is almost too much to take:

"Someone's always on my tracks,
In a dark room you see more than you think.
I'm out of my place, got to get back,
I sweated a lot, you could feel the violence.
I've got shears pointed straight at my chest,
And time moves slow when you count it.
I'm better than them, and I think I'm the best,
But I'll appear at midnight when the films close..."

"Frightened" is one of my all-time favorite Fall tracks. It so nails its misanthropic vibe so squarely that if you're in the right antisocial mindset, it can make your eyeballs bulge as you listen to it. "Rebellious Jukebox" is another favorite. The Fall in early-punk mode delivering another shambolic statement of purpose. One of my favorite 70's punk tracks.  I also feel the need to give a shout out to "Industrial Estates" which is one of the signature early Fall songs, capturing the grimy, smoke-shrouded adrenelin rush.

"ROWCHE! RUMBLE! IT'S VALI-UM! KSSH! KSSH! VALI-UM! KSSH! KSSH!" Love this song. Gets stuck in my head all the time. Almost as addictive as VAL-IUM! KSSH! KSSH! VAL-IUM! KSSH! KSSH!

Up next is the bulk of the Fall's 2nd album, "Dragnet," which has a really fascinating sound that might be off-putting at first. I can only describe the album as being enveloped in a dry fog. A chalky murk. The straight-forward punk elements are downplayed as the band settles into a scratchy, bass-driven lurch on tracks like "Psykick Dancehall" and "Flat of Angles." Big ups for including the lengthy, haunted epic "Spector Vs Rector." I also have a soft spot for the catchy pop(?) of "Diceman" and "Choc-Stock," the latter of which could be described as a children's song(!).  I don't know what Choc-Stock is, but it makes me hungry (Fats! You're always hungry!).

The comp closes with two tracks from the fan-fucking-tastic "Fiery Jack" single, which is about Jack in the Box's latest jalapeno cheeseburger...

Nah, it's not about a hamburger...I'm just joking...I actually have no idea what it's about. All I know is it's a grooving, circus/rockabilly chugger. It spins its wheels for 6 glorious minutes and it still seems too short. I want this to last forever...

I'm calling this a fine introduction to the early Fall. The only problem is its comprehensive-ness has caused me to skip buying "Live at the Witch Trials" and "Dragnet." It's hard for me to fork over big bucks for a fancy reissue when I'd only be gaining three tracks. The Fall are an acquired taste and it did take me a few listens for the band's sound to sink in (and I was a seasoned punk listener when I got into this band) but eventually my brain re-wired itself (totally wired!) and it wasn't long before I was hopelessly addicted. Some of the band's coolest stuff is on here (those 70's singles are killers) so I'd recommend it once you've thoroughly assimilated punk and want to get a little more adventurous...

Let's listen to some music-a...Here's "Rebellious Jukebox" by the Fall...Enjoy...