Disco de The Fall: “Your Future Our Clutter”

So while the last Fall album, Imperial Wax Solvent, (as many albums since The Unutterable) had some high points, but seemed to have a bit of ADD and had some parts that were painful for me to listen to, I find this album to be downright addictive. This is also one of the more accessible Fall albums in years, while still maintaining the odd weirdness that pervades everything they do. The Fall seems to usually have a "buzz" on their tracks, something atonal, dissonant, out of place, out of tune, out of context that either completes the song or makes you squirm in your seat (sometimes it's if Mark trying to actually sing). This album goes a mostly electronic route for that buzz effect, with chirps, squeaks, growls, and all sorts of sounds non-characterizable all over the place. As always, there is not quite anything that sounds like this album out there, yet this one, like all Fall albums, borrows from all sorts of bands and styles. You just can't slap a label on it.

The thing that stands out most on this album are the dual punch of bass and drums. Strong, bold, powerful, hitting you in the chest all the time. Really good with bass-boosting headphones. Elena's keyboards are fantastic, providing the central theme on several songs, or providing the all-important buzz on the tracks. Some really beautiful riffs in this (such as in the end of Mexico Wax Solvent); she gets better with each album. The guitar seems different on this album, at times almost violently aggressive and driving, other tracks nearly invisible, but really the important tie-in, weaving everything together. Mark's vocals are the best in years. Few of the wince-inducing moments where he tries to sing (sorry, I have my limits), and lyrically, some of the best vignettes and impressions in a truly long time.

Tracks, in no particular order:

OFYC Showcase - Really hard driving stuff, with a great use of minimal keyboards.

Bury Pts 1+3 - The low-fi intro is great, and worth sticking around for the meaty "part 3" (the "part 1" is too long for most non-fans, probably, and just right for Fall fans). Good, driving track again.

Mexico Wax Solvent - The best track on the album in my opinion. Best lyrics, best music, really an ideal Fall track.

Cowboy George - Nice galloping feel. Wonder if the lyrics refer to a certain recent political figure. My least favorite track.

Chino - Plodding, dragging, and intentionally so. Great mood it induces.

Hot Cake - Great keyboard sound effects, killer thick guitar riffs. I love the Elena "ah ah ah ooooooooo" vocals. Best lyric on the album: "My dialogue is stuck."

YFOC/Slippy Floor - 3 songs in one. Completely different, each of them.

Funnel of Love - The Fall really really makes great covers of songs from the 50's and 60's.

Weather Report 2 - Starts off as almost a ballad with MES singing and it really does not work for me, but absolutely listen to the whole thing because the second part is one of the most amazing electric/electronic-noise-as-music compositions I have ever heard. No, Mr. Smith, we do not deserve Rock and Roll, as you prove over and over again.

This is one of my favorite Fall albums of all time, and so far, the best thing I have heard in several years. Fall fans will likely love it, and newbies hopefully will as well, though the hardest thing with The Fall is that it all depends on the first track you hear from them. It either takes you right in or drives you away.

Who is this Chino person/persons/concept/ideal anyway?

When so many things decay with time it's downright startling to discover that MES hasn't. Was Mighty skeptical being a MES fanatic from nearly the beginning of time that anything could bump Witchtrials or Hex Enduction Hour off lifetime heavy rotation playlist but this is Right Up There. Faith restored, & etc. Glad to have more incredible music to set others' teeth on edge.

This album is way ahead of anything you will ever hear in a 100 years.

Not the best songs but as a whole up there with Infotainment.

Don't want to fail to mention 50 year old man and wolf kidult from Imperial Wax Solvent.

These 2 albums side by side are fantastic.

Best band ever.

Picked this up on the cheap from Amazon. I was really surprised how hard this rocked. The two LP vinyl version is pressed on 180 gram vinyl and sounds great. The band is tight and Mark E. Smith sounds as off-kilter and skewed as ever. True punk rock, inspired by the fury and angst of original punk from the late '70s and still rocks one's face off.

So here's Mark & company on that ever-difficult 28th album and how did they do?

Fantastic. It's spot on, short and to the point. The band is tight and Mark is firing on all cylinders.

If you are any kind of fan, you don't need me to tell you to get it already.

If you are not a fan at all, I suspect this one will pass you by as well. (Your loss really.)

There's not much more to say other than this is the first album to sport the exact same band on 2 albums since...??? (really, I can't remember was it in the 80's?)