Another holiday purchase in Falmouth, this is a later period Fall album, Craig Scanlon's last appearance and Steve Hanley can see the exit door not far behind.
While I'm not close to following the advice in Steve Pringle's definitive guide to The Fall, You Must Get Them All, the F section of my CDs is somewhat Fall heavy.
DIY Meat is a jolly little tune, heavy with synth brass, quite easy listening by Fall standards. On Das Vulture Ans Ein Nutter-Wain, we're back on more familiar ground, with Smith's barely discernable lyrics shouted over a driving Hanley bass, punctuated by Julia Nagle's intrusive keyboard contribution and He Pep! feels more like the band of old, with Brix's adding chorus vocals (shoutings). Hostile has a similar feel, not classic Fall, but an interesting listen nevertheless. Stay Away is a pointless cover of Johnny Paycheck's 1979 song (yes, I had to look that up), only notable for drummer Karl Burns handing vocal duties. As the saying goes, like a dog walking on two legs...
Spinetrak is more like it, Smith and Brix working together on vocals, and some blistering Scanlon guitar, and is followed by the album's centrepiece Interlude/Chilinism, a seven minute version of single, The Chisellers, not necessarily an improved version, but still an exciting listen. As is Powder Keg, while Oleano is fairly ordinary, Cheetham Hill an interesting piece, with vocals by producer Mike Bennett, and The Coliseum a dubious idea which goes on too long. There's a couple of songs which really don't make any impact, but the driving bass on Oxymoron livens things up, and the album ends brightly, with Secession Man, a bouncy song with a similar feel to the opener.
This is not a classic Fall album, and I doubt to would make many people's top ten. By all accounts, The Fall wasn't a happy place, with two long term inmates about to depart, and Smith struggling with 'issues'. However, there's enough of quality to make this worth listening to, although much is ordinary by Fall standards.
3* - an occasional pleasure, but there's so much Fall that is so much better than this.
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