The Fall: New Facts Emerge
The Fall
New Facts Emerge
(Cherry Red)
While catching up on The Fallās more recent history I was surprised to find that the band has consisted of a total of 66 members throughout its impressive and rather surreal 40-year history, and that Mark E. Smith (founder and vocalist) is the only remaining original member. That said, the past decade has seen a more stable lineup than previous years.
Thereās something to be said for stability, as this album feels very set in its ways compared to their previous work, much more uniform than usual. In addition to Smithās trademark staccato, off-kilter vocal deliveries, I recognize many familiar trademarks in the first track alone.
āSegueā opens with a distorted, sing-song verse and disjointed hand claps, which cascade unapologetically into the jangly lurch of āFol De Rol.ā Ā āBrillo De Factoā has some catchy guitar hooks, but I feel a little cheated that I canāt understand the lyrics.
In fact, I feel like a lot of the album could use subtitles somehow, maybe as scrolling metadata embedded in the track on iTunes. Iām not sure how it would work, but I do feel that the incoherence of Smithās vocals, takes away from the impact of this album a bit, especially given that heās released a couple of spoken word albums and obviously has a way with words.
āCouples vs Jobless Mid 30āsā legitimately gave me weird dreams with its obnoxiously persistent drums and bizarro narrative which, again, can barely be deciphered. āO! Zztrrk Manā is a Fugazi-ish throwback to their earlier days and is joyfully noisy. Turn it up!
In short, if youāre okay with not āgettingā most of the lyrics, you might enjoy this album. To be fair, Mark E. Smith has been described asĀ āa strange kind of antimatter national treasureā and is 60 years old, so he gets to do what he wants. Itās up to you if you want to listen.