The Fall return in 1988 so we obviously have a change in personnel, Simon Rogers will still work with the band but is no longer officially a member and Marcia Schofield is in. The Fall now have two females in the group but for how long?
Opening track Frenz, pleasant enough is set to minimal music with Smith reflecting “my friends don’t add up to one hand.” As we have read Mark is not the easiest man in the world, but he sounds down and weary with it all. Carry Bag Man shows how lucky The Fall were to have Wolstencroft on drums, he excels on this track and must have been knackered if they did this live.
This is the eleventh Fall album reviewed and I must have written the lines Steve Hanley – excellent bass, more than any others but again he is off on one. Get a Hotel, it’s the best bit of the song.
The Fall made the top 40 with Victoria it’s a cover of The Kinks song but it’s a cracking version, still great to this day. Athlete Cured we are led in with a high-pitched scream, careful if wearing headphones, and a total rip from a Spinal Tap song (credit Steve Hanley’s book The Big Midweek, I’ll say again, read it. I know there is repetition but we are Fall fans,we love this).
In These Times Mark and Brix vocals compliment well but The Steak Place is filler. Bremen Nacht is the highlight for me with the band pumping behind Smith with him shouting out the lyrics the most engaged he seems on the record, and we close with Oswald Defence Lawyer, heavy guitar with an excellent shouted chorus and falsetto from Mark occasionally.
We have not had a masterpiece in a while but still worth your time.
7/10
GIVE IT A STREAM: Bremen Nacht