Music Banter - View Single Post - Urbans Rough Guide To The Wild & Wonderful World Of The Fall

Urban Hat€monger ? · 03-15-2007, 01:24 PM

Dragnet - Step Forward Records- 26th October 1979

Original Album Tracklisting : Psykick Dancehall / A Figure Walks / Printhead / Dice Man / Before The Moon Falls / Your Heart Out / Muzorewi's Daughter / Flat Of Angels / Choc-Stock / Spectre Vs Rector / Put Away

Re-issue Extras : Rowche Rumble / In My Area (7" Single 30th July 1979)
Fiery Jack / 2nd Dark Age / Psykick Dance Hall No. 2(Re-recording of the Album track) (7" Single 10th January 1980)
Rowche Rumble (Take 2) / Rowche Rumble (Take 3) / Rowche Rumble (Take 4) / Rowche Rumble (Take 5) / In My Area (Take 1) / In My Area (Take 2)

Band Line Up: Mark E. Smith - vocals / Marc Riley - guitar, backing vocals / Craig Scanlon - Guitar / Steve Hanley - bass , backing vocals / Mike Leigh - drums

Critique: This is where it really starts. This is where Mark E Smith's version of The Fall begins. The sound is stripped down raw garage rock. The keyboards are gone as has all the polish of the debut album. It`s bleak , it`s cold and MES's vocals are pushed right to the front. To some extent the music comes secondary to Smiths lyrics on this album. Songs like Psykick Dancehall , A Figure Walks & Spectre Vs Rector are all about Smiths interest in the paranormal & the stories of H.P. Lovecraft . Printhead is Smith making fun of journalist who gave a bad review to the It's The New Thing single ,with the wonderful lyrics The singer is a neurotic drinker ,The band little more than a big crashing beat..Dice Man is another attack on the music industry where Smith berates those writing love songs explaining that he`d rather sing horror songs , it also contains an all to true summery of record company policy They stay with the masses , Don't take any chances. And if we are still in any doubt as to how MES feels about the music industry he lets us know yet again on Choc-Stock.
On Muzorewi's Daughter we get to hear MES do his Rock n Roll shreiking in a song about what it would be like to be the daughter of Bishop Muzorewi of Rhodesia (don't ask).Before The Moon Falls is an interesting song where the band take the roles of private eyes. Flat Of Angels is a song about a man hiding in his flat after murdering his wife & Put Away is about being locked up in an asylum.
The extras on the album include the two singles released either side of the album. Rowshe Rumble & In My Area. The latter is an almost psychadelic song and gives some idea to how this album would have sounded if Yvonne Paulette would have played keyboards on this album (She left just after the single was recorded). Listening to this the keyboards don`t really fit the bands sound anymore & sound intrusive. Fiery Jack is a nod in the direction of the next album Grotesque and could almost be autobiographical by Smith only 20 years early.The rest of the extras are made up of different takes and sadly don`t add much to the album

Songs You Need

Psykick Dancehall- A great peice of garage rock performed by a band who sound like they are about to fall apart at any moment.IF you want musicianship you ain't gonna find it here.If you can look past that this is a great song to kick off the album.

Printhead- Another 'The Fall do punk rock' song. Nice catchy riff with MES spitting vitriol at some poor journo.

Flat Of Angels- This is probably the most musical track on the album , featuring both acoustic & slide guitars backed up with a great story in the lyrics. Totally different to anything else on the album.

Spectre vs Rector- Genius , or unlistenable garbage?
Spectre vs Rector is unlike any other song the Fall have done before or since. Recorded in an abandoned warehouse the sound quality is awful , but thats the point. Smiths lyrics are recorded in the studio over the original warehouse recordings.In the warehouse recordings you can hear him chanting 'M R James be born / Yog Sothoth rape me lord' (More Lovecraft references) , while the studio recording has Smith singing the actual lyrics to the song , giving a very strange effect. The story is told in 6 parts about a possession & an exorcism. Part 1 is the spectre vs the rector , part 2 is the inspector visiting the rector , part 3 is the spectre possessing the rector, part 4 is the inspector vs the possessed rector , in part 5 the hero appears & is possessed a thousand times and in the final part the hero is possessed but it is ineffectual. Throughout the song you get the same monotonous grungy riff repeating itself over & over , when the music switches to a studio recording towards the end it gives the song a new lease of life before finally coming to an end. The song is part performance art , part No-wave, part garage rock and if you are in the mood for it, it makes fascinating listening.If you are not , it's unlistenable crap.

Rowshe Rumble- This is a drum heavy anthem of a song. The songs title is from MES's days working as a shipping clerk in Manchester docks when he made an error and ordered too many drugs from the Rowshe chemical company and his attempt to hide the error by hiding them all around the building that he worked in hoping not the get rumbled.

Verdict: This really is a strange album , because manages to be a step backwards and a step forwards at the same time.Musically it`s nowhere near as good as Witch Trials , but what this album does have in bucketloads is atmophere and progression. The subject matter & the way it is presented really is chilling. This album for me is all about Mark E Smith's lyrics.Now that he is in full control of the band he can really begin to express himself lyrically and he doesn`t disappoint. This is an album full of horror stories.You can see things beginning to develop that would serve the Fall well in later albums , it's just at the moment they're at a very embryonic stage.
I have always seen this album with a kind of parallel with The Velvet Underground's White Light White Heat album with Witch Trials being their 'Velvet Underground & Nico' in that both bands made classic debut albums but the follow up albums were much rougher sounding & more representive of their styles.
A really interesting album , but to be honest you have to be a Fall fan to appreciate it.
6/10

03-15-2007, 01:24 PM	#7 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	Dragnet - Step Forward Records- 26th October 1979 Original Album Tracklisting : Psykick Dancehall / A Figure Walks / Printhead / Dice Man / Before The Moon Falls / Your Heart Out / Muzorewi's Daughter / Flat Of Angels / Choc-Stock / Spectre Vs Rector / Put Away Re-issue Extras : Rowche Rumble / In My Area (7" Single 30th July 1979) Fiery Jack / 2nd Dark Age / Psykick Dance Hall No. 2(Re-recording of the Album track) (7" Single 10th January 1980) Rowche Rumble (Take 2) / Rowche Rumble (Take 3) / Rowche Rumble (Take 4) / Rowche Rumble (Take 5) / In My Area (Take 1) / In My Area (Take 2) Band Line Up: Mark E. Smith - vocals / Marc Riley - guitar, backing vocals / Craig Scanlon - Guitar / Steve Hanley - bass , backing vocals / Mike Leigh - drums Critique: This is where it really starts. This is where Mark E Smith's version of The Fall begins. The sound is stripped down raw garage rock. The keyboards are gone as has all the polish of the debut album. It`s bleak , it`s cold and MES's vocals are pushed right to the front. To some extent the music comes secondary to Smiths lyrics on this album. Songs like Psykick Dancehall , A Figure Walks & Spectre Vs Rector are all about Smiths interest in the paranormal & the stories of H.P. Lovecraft . Printhead is Smith making fun of journalist who gave a bad review to the It's The New Thing single ,with the wonderful lyrics The singer is a neurotic drinker ,The band little more than a big crashing beat..Dice Man is another attack on the music industry where Smith berates those writing love songs explaining that he`d rather sing horror songs , it also contains an all to true summery of record company policy They stay with the masses , Don't take any chances. And if we are still in any doubt as to how MES feels about the music industry he lets us know yet again on Choc-Stock. On Muzorewi's Daughter we get to hear MES do his Rock n Roll shreiking in a song about what it would be like to be the daughter of Bishop Muzorewi of Rhodesia (don't ask).Before The Moon Falls is an interesting song where the band take the roles of private eyes. Flat Of Angels is a song about a man hiding in his flat after murdering his wife & Put Away is about being locked up in an asylum. The extras on the album include the two singles released either side of the album. Rowshe Rumble & In My Area. The latter is an almost psychadelic song and gives some idea to how this album would have sounded if Yvonne Paulette would have played keyboards on this album (She left just after the single was recorded). Listening to this the keyboards don`t really fit the bands sound anymore & sound intrusive. Fiery Jack is a nod in the direction of the next album Grotesque and could almost be autobiographical by Smith only 20 years early.The rest of the extras are made up of different takes and sadly don`t add much to the album Songs You Need Psykick Dancehall- A great peice of garage rock performed by a band who sound like they are about to fall apart at any moment.IF you want musicianship you ain't gonna find it here.If you can look past that this is a great song to kick off the album. Printhead- Another 'The Fall do punk rock' song. Nice catchy riff with MES spitting vitriol at some poor journo. Flat Of Angels- This is probably the most musical track on the album , featuring both acoustic & slide guitars backed up with a great story in the lyrics. Totally different to anything else on the album. Spectre vs Rector- Genius , or unlistenable garbage? Spectre vs Rector is unlike any other song the Fall have done before or since. Recorded in an abandoned warehouse the sound quality is awful , but thats the point. Smiths lyrics are recorded in the studio over the original warehouse recordings.In the warehouse recordings you can hear him chanting 'M R James be born / Yog Sothoth rape me lord' (More Lovecraft references) , while the studio recording has Smith singing the actual lyrics to the song , giving a very strange effect. The story is told in 6 parts about a possession & an exorcism. Part 1 is the spectre vs the rector , part 2 is the inspector visiting the rector , part 3 is the spectre possessing the rector, part 4 is the inspector vs the possessed rector , in part 5 the hero appears & is possessed a thousand times and in the final part the hero is possessed but it is ineffectual. Throughout the song you get the same monotonous grungy riff repeating itself over & over , when the music switches to a studio recording towards the end it gives the song a new lease of life before finally coming to an end. The song is part performance art , part No-wave, part garage rock and if you are in the mood for it, it makes fascinating listening.If you are not , it's unlistenable crap. Rowshe Rumble- This is a drum heavy anthem of a song. The songs title is from MES's days working as a shipping clerk in Manchester docks when he made an error and ordered too many drugs from the Rowshe chemical company and his attempt to hide the error by hiding them all around the building that he worked in hoping not the get rumbled. Verdict: This really is a strange album , because manages to be a step backwards and a step forwards at the same time.Musically it`s nowhere near as good as Witch Trials , but what this album does have in bucketloads is atmophere and progression. The subject matter & the way it is presented really is chilling. This album for me is all about Mark E Smith's lyrics.Now that he is in full control of the band he can really begin to express himself lyrically and he doesn`t disappoint. This is an album full of horror stories.You can see things beginning to develop that would serve the Fall well in later albums , it's just at the moment they're at a very embryonic stage. I have always seen this album with a kind of parallel with The Velvet Underground's White Light White Heat album with Witch Trials being their 'Velvet Underground & Nico' in that both bands made classic debut albums but the follow up albums were much rougher sounding & more representive of their styles. A really interesting album , but to be honest you have to be a Fall fan to appreciate it. 6/10 __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.