The Fall

I was only introduced to The Fall a few years ago but they very quickly became my favourite band. Their appeal centres on the astonishing charisma of frontman Mark E. Smith, who's spiteful, lyrical vocal style and strangely stitched lyrics have been the bands touchstone through years of constant style and band member change. The Fall's sound has evolved from post-punk, through lo-fi rockabilly to electronica and back again, but all the while there has been the relentless genius of Smith; even Dylan, at his most sneering, could not have dreamt of being so hopelessly disdainful. The best place to start is with the hits collection 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong. You'll be hard pressed to find anything more exciting, strange, hilarious or compelling than what's on there.

Recommended Albums

This Nation's Saving Grace
Rating: 9.2

Hex Enduction Hour
Rating: 8.6


This Nation's Saving Grace kicks off with the ominous Mansion, explodes with Bombast and by the time Spoilt Victorian Child comes around, it hasn't touched the ground in a while. In fact most of what's charming about The Fall can be found in that song; a gloriously unhinged guitar hook, strange and compelling lyrics and a chorus that's made for drunken shouting. When it breaks down Smith repeatedly mumbles E.N.C.Y.L.O. -pedia! before he's sparked into an astonishing tirade by that guitar riff. The songs veer between rambling rockabilly, amateur electronica and on Paintwork, the melody is even treated to tape cuts, obscured vocals and meandering interludes without losing it's mind-boggling jauntiness. From one song to the next, there's always the spectre of a decaying industrial Manchester lurking in the background. It's mixed with churlish nostalgia in Barmy but that collapses entirely in the very evil I Am Damo Suzuki. It's impossible to tie down all the elements at play here, it's simply beguiling and certainly among my very favourites.

Hex Enduction Hour is an all the more hardcore affair. Smith was convinced that this would be the band's swansong and so everything was thrown into this cold, intense and remorseless album. The songs are dominated by two drummers and layered powerful guitar melodies. Apparently the band were up for being signed by Motown Records at the time but I'm sure Berry Gordon very quickly dispelled that notion when, after 30 seconds of The Classical, he was treated to: "Where are the obligatory niggers? Hey there fuckface! Hey there, fuckface!". That epic opener stands alone as my favourite Fall song. It sets the album off royally with Smith chanting "This is the home of the vain" and toward the end, the way the guitar plays the same melody as the vocal: "I have never felt better in my life" is genius in pure form. Just Step S'ways is wonderfully catchy and the creepy refrain of "He-he is-is not...Appreciated" in Hip Priest is the background music to the scene in Silence of the Lambs when Buffulo Bill performed his very singular ritual in front of the mirror. So a very dark album, definetly not the place to start but it ranks as most Fall fan's favourite.

Starting Off

The first time that I heard Silver Jews I laughed out loud. The opening line of Random Rules is simply unbeatable: "In 1984, I was hospitalised for approaching perfection". Silver Jews (effectively the guise of David Berman) offer up a brand of unhinged country that manages to avoid all the tired cliches you might expect. The stories are strange, intelligent and charming. Berman's deep and faltering voice lends a very intimate quality to songs pitched in a low-key, plaintive and shambolic way. If you download the songs Random Rules or Tennessee, you'll get a good idea of what he's about. A number of songs have been made available on his website, which you can get to by following my Silver Jews link.

Recommended Albums

American Water
Rating: 8.5

Tanglewood Numbers
Rating: 8.3


The quality I like most about David Berman's music is his ability to completely disarm you with a line. After opening Random Rules (American Water), you get "I know that a lot of what I say has been lifted off of men's room walls" in the next verse. The mood is never overbearingly dark but it's blindingly obvious that Berman wasn't exactly in a happy place. This is how he described what happened to him after the making of the album in a recent interview:

"My Y2K party lasted four years longer than I expected it to. I went down in 1999 for a long, suitcase-battering journey of sub-aqueous intoxication, only resurfacing on January 1, 2004 in a tiny Minnesota village. There were many phases, but the final one was crack. And Dilaudid when I needed to sand the edges off the horrorscape. Also vodka. The vodka is how you clean yourself. I actually thought it was cleaning my organs."

The album vears from the bouncy blues of Smith and Jones Forever to the doom filled country of The Wild Kindness. On People, there's a lovely chorus harmony over some reasonably focused guitar parts, but for the most part elsewhere, the album is charmingly messy. Although these songs didn't grab me straight away, it's still full of garbled country melodies and hilarious quips. Well worth the investment in the long run.

Tanglewood Numbers, Berman's latest release is sunnier in tempremant. There's even some hope that the album will sell well. Songs like Punks in the Bearlight, I'm Getting Back Into You and How Can I Love You When You Won't Lie Down are immediately charming. Sleeping is the Only Love delivers some trademark hilarity, but the songs are wrapped up a little warmer: "Later I come to find, life is sweeter than Jewish wine". This might be the best place to start.