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All Music Guide Review:
Review by David Jeffries
Being a fan of Mark E. Smith's the Fall is no doubt nowhere near as frustrating as it must be to be in his band, what with the way he fires people, it must go as far as demoralizing. Still, the fans were hit pretty hard on the way to Reformation Post-TLC when commander Smith dumped the cracking Fall Heads Roll band in the middle of an American tour, save the keyboard-playing wife. They were just awful, he claimed, and while they certainly were not, the new Fall ("Fall #45" or something) and their new album (don't even try to count them) is filled with new life, new ideas, and every reason the cult needs to keep worshiping this fickle, inconsiderate, and ungracious band. Pulling another obscure idea out of an extremely eclectic record collection (Lee "Scratch" Perry, the Move, and the Monks have been covered before, Merle Haggard, Amon Düül, and Captain Beefheart are all referenced later on this album) the opening "Over! Over!" rips a bit of the United States of America's "Coming Down" and adds that Fall throb, that simple and infectious Fall sense of melody. Typically literate and wandering Smith lyrics are in effect, plus a gravelly grumble from some backup singer imitating a Muppet. Smith joins said Muppet and starts grumbling right along towards the end as the drummer kicks it double time, working the hi-hat. The track is representative of so many other surprises on the album since "muso" moves Smith would normally balk at often mix with the leader's extremely loose and mischievous delivery, bringing to mind nothing they've done before. There may even be a whammy bar on this album and, for the first time, incidental chatter with bandmembers actually laughing clearly audible. The album's title is supposedly inspired by fellow Manchester bands that are "Totally Lecherous C-Words" reuniting and it's easy to see how Smith is flippantly using this half-American band -- another first -- to make sure he has no connection to legend, reverence, or anything else graying musicians receive from their graying fans. He's inspired, as are the band who are given more room to roam than previous editions and in turn offer more ideas. The sprawling Krautrock of "Das Boot" might scare away the meek with its ten minutes of slowly churning basses and Michael Karoli-inspired guitars, but if you can handle that the only problem left is the loose-to-a-fault "Insult Song." The track is unmistakably B-side material and while that won't ruin anything for fans it does speak to the album's inability to play nice and save the glib ideas for peripheral releases. Course the way Reformation fights importance with such enthusiasm and muscle is what makes it such a fascinating album. It also suggests Smith's firings aren't as arbitrary as they seem and even if he doesn't care about fans, in some strange way he cares about the Fall.
Mark Prindle Review:
Reformation Post TLC - Slogan 2007
7 out of 10
STUDIO ALBUM #25 - That makes 25 full-length studio albums, NONE of which have earned less than a 7 out of 10 on the Mark Prindle Scale Of Grading Scale. Am I just an earless fanman or is The Fall truly the most consistent band in history? As an earless fanman, I vote the latter. Even The Ramones stunk up my dick with Subaverage Jungle and Ass Eaters, but The Fall are still, to quote their 1989 hit single, "Hangin' Tough."
As you can see, RPTLC is another "7"-album, joining the ranks of Extricate, The Infotainment Scan and Fall Heads Roll as 'least incredible Fall studio albums ever.' But you're not going to hear me complain this time, because this should've by all indications been not only the first weak Fall album, but one of the worst albums ever recorded, period. By anybody. If you haven't been following the latest twists in the brutal, embarrassing Fall saga, please.... allow me.
Because Mark Smith is a speed-using abusive drunk, his entire band quit in the middle of an American tour last year. Except his wife, of course. For some reason. At any rate, Mark refused to give up and return to Britain a broken man. Instead, he called his U.S. record company and requested a new band. They provided a drummer, who then recruited a bassist and guitarist from an L.A. band called 'Darker My Love.' This line-up then practiced together for one day before their first gig as 'The Fall.' Mark was so thrilled with their performance that, after literally like five shows together, he rushed them into the studio to record a new Fall album. When you consider that the previous line-up took months and months to write and record the relatively disappointing Fall Heads Roll.... HOW GOOD WAS THIS PIECE OF MADE-UP-ON-THE-SPOT SHIT GOING TO BE!??!
The answer is -- surprisingly not bad at all! There's certainly a reliance on simple, repetitive and (unfortunately) somewhat derivative garage rock riffs, but they never sound completely generic or old-fashioned like the rockabilly throwbacks on Fall Heads Roll (and Are You Are Missing Winner) (oh, and Cerebral Caustic). Instead, this is mid-60s Nuggets garage music: the riffs might not be innovative, but the energy level is high, the beats are almost all uptempo, the mood is fun and bouncy, and the album has a unique, raw and exciting sound. There are dozens of varied guitar tones and warbly synth noises interacting with each other, a recurring heavy fuzzy melodic instrument that is either a distorted bass or oddball keyboard, and a few tracks that even spotlight two bassists playing different riffs at the same time! Furthermore, this is the loosest playing that Mark has allowed on a Fall record since maybe as far back as Hex Enduction Hour. The lead guitarist is seemingly given free reign to play whatever types of licks, leads or noises he'd like atop the melodies, which keeps the lengthy, repetitive vamp/jams from growing tiresome.
It's also a surprisingly diverse album, with the reliable garage rock action regularly broken up by such departures as jokey children's song "Over! Over!" (2011 UPDATE: "OVER! OVER!" IS AN UNCREDITED RIPOFF OF "COMING DOWN," RECORDED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN 1967); smooth melodic "White Line Fever" (their most honestly musical cover tune in ages -- Mark even SINGS!), Byrds-esque arpeggiated minor-key Nugget "Coach And Horses," bass harmonic improv jazz "The Usher," Elena-sung new waver "The Wright Stuff," overlong but funny ad-libbed rant "Insult Song" (a 6-minute mess concluding with the punchline "Little did they know they were paying by the minute for the tape they were wasting!") and 11-minute avant-garde piece "Das Boat," which I personally quite enjoy for about half its length but even Mark Smith admits, "It just got out of hand, that track. I was going to take it off, but people love it." I find that hard to believe, but must admit that The Fall has never come closer to approximating the pointless, aggravating artsiness of a Lennon/Ono album. 'Ee-ee! Ee-ee!' indubitably!
Again, it's not melodically creative enough to warrant more than a high 7, but in terms of fun, raucous, idiosyncratic, experimental rock'n'roll, it's pretty goddamned good for a band that didn't exist one month prior!
Will Robert Barbato, Tim Presley and Orpheo McCord ever play on another Fall album? Will Elena Poulou finally wise up and become Mark's 7th ex-wife? Check back this time next year for the next chapter of The Fall serial saga.
Mark Smith just turned 50, by the way, so be sure and send him an "I Can't Believe You're Not Dead Yet" card.
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