Another one picked up during last month's Cornwall holiday, it's The Mighty Fall from the mid 1990s, not a happy place by all accounts, and it's not one recognised as one of the group's classics.
Alongside MES, it still has stalwarts Craig Scanlon and Steve Hanley (credited with all the original music) as well as two drummers, 'Funky' Si Wolstencroft and Karl Burns (although it sounds like Burns takes a back seat) with Dave Bush on keyboards.
Opening with 15 Ways, a workmanlike trudge through 15 ways to leave your man (no "hop on a bus, Gus" here), then into The Reckoning, very possibly about ex-wife Brix ( "sleeping with some hippy halfwit who thinks he's Mr Mark Smith" - are you listening Nigel Kennedy?), which has a certain appeal, without being a Fall banger.
But it's followed by a great song, Behind The Counter - catchy tune, driving bass, Smith drawl, everything a Fall song should be. Sadly, a bit of a lull follows, the next three tracks are listenable, but don't make much impression, unlike the frankly bizarre Henry Cow cover, War - apparently covered purely from Smith's memory, because no one could find a copy of the original. You're Not Up To Much continues the ordinariness, and Symbol Of Mordgan is little more than Smith talking to John Peel about football. But just when you're giving up hope, comes the wonderfully rockabilly Hey! Student, followed by a strong cover of Groundhogs' Junk Man, Smith's vocals accompanied as ever by Hanley's pounding bass, but also Burns let loose with a kazoo. The $500 Bottle Of Wine plods along as a solid, unspectacular tune, the album ending with the more upbeat and electronic City Dweller, a bit of a grower and a cover of The Monks' Shut Up, bringing the album to a limp conclusion.
As mentioned, not a Fall classic, but there's at least two top songs in Behind The Counter and Hey! Student, and none of the rest (well, perhaps Symbol Of Mordgan) is actively bad.
3* - a mediocre Fall album is still a Fall album, with lots to enjoy
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