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.
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 "
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...
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...
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