The Fall Versus 2008
Last updated: 28/04/2008 - 10:00
'The Grumpiest Man in Pop’ unleashes another stunning album Imperial Wax Solvent, from the latest incarnation of Salford's finest post-punksters: The (mighty) Fall.
There aren’t very many groups that have been together as long as The Fall and it’s difficult to think of any who have released brand new material each and every year. No feat of mere musical endurance The Fall have managed - seemingly by positioning themselves to one side of a music business too often too obsessed with the 'new' alone to lend an ear to the past masters - by making music that sounds like a first album each and every time...
Pictured (right - and below): Mark E. Smith - 'The Grumpiest Man in Pop’? Photo credit: Kevin Cummins.
Formed at the height of punk in the north-west of England back in 1976 - the same breeding ground that produced the likes of Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Television and John Cooper Clarke - The Fall have so-far released a clear half century of 'singles', almost thirty studio albums and a multitude of live and compilation albums. Essentially always built around founder - and only constant member - Mark E. Smith the group’s music has gone through several stylistic changes over the years but has almost always been characterised by an abrasive, guitar-driven sound, a frequent use of repetition and a driving, anarchic use of sometimes playful, sometimes biting lyrics - always underpinned by Smith’s unmistakeable vocal delivery.
Long associated with BBC Radio One disc jockey John Peel - for his who championing of the group from their very early days - The Fall remain (as he so often opined): “always different...always the same.” The band recorded more sessions for his legendary show on the BBC than any other group (thirty-two in total - almost all of which are collected on a massive 6 CD boxed set from 2005: The Fall The Complete Peel Sessions.)
Twenty-seven studio albums, countless compilations, live recordings, bootlegs and other cash-in since they began - not least the last last year's critically acclaimed Reformation - Post TLC and the band with the never ending stream of invention unveil a cracker of a new one for 2008.
This year's offering is made up of twelve new tracks written by Mark E. Smith - no doubt with or without the in-studio cooperation of various members of the band's current line up: Keiron Melling (Drums), David Spurr (Bass) and Mr Smiths' other half Elini Poulou- (Keyboards and vocals).
1. Alton Towers
2. Wolf Kidult Man
3. 50 Year Old Man
4. I've Been Duped
5. Strange Town
6. Taurig
7. Can Can Summer
8. Tommy Shooter
9. Latch Key Kid
10. Is This New
11. Senior Twilight Stock Replacer
12. Exploding Chimney
The release of the new album - on Castle Records - on CD and limited edition vinyl roughly coincides with the publication of Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith, the long-awaited autobiography of Mark E. Smith, published by Viking 1 May, priced £18.99.
See also on Lifestyle:
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Imperial Wax Solvent is out now, from Slogan, For more reading you might want to check out the forthcoming short story collection: Perverted by Language: Fiction inspired by The Fall, edited by Peter Wild - of bookmunch fame - and Hip Priest: The Story of Mark E.Smith and the Fall by Simon Ford.
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