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All Music Guide Review:
Review by Jon O'Brien
Renowned for their merry-go-round of lineups, seminal post-punk outfit the Fall are arguably entering the most stable phase of their 35-year career, with iconic frontman Mark E. Smith somehow managing to hold onto the same bunch of musicians for a third consecutive album. However, despite their rather unfamiliar solid foundations, their first release through Cherry Red Records, Ersatz G.B., proves they're still as unashamedly chaotic, hyperactive, and downright shambolic as they've ever been. Co-produced with former bassist Simon Archer, its ten tracks are a slightly heavier affair than 2010's Your Future Our Clutter, drifting into mosh pit territory on "Greenway," a surreal reworking of Greek metal band Anorimoi's "Gameboy," and embracing experimental sludge rock on the eight-minute epic "Monocard." But it's Smith's grumpy old man routine which, unsurprisingly, remains the focus of the record, whether it's berating the likes of Snow Patrol on the rockabilly-tinged "Mask Search," bizarrely dissecting a character from Gossip Girl on the spiraling indie rock of "Nate Will Not Return," or drunkenly slurring through the rumbling garage punk of opener "Cosmos 7." As always, his disgruntled, abrasive, and sometimes incomprehensible rants make for an exhausting listen, particularly on the vitriolic call to arms of closer "Age of Chang." And while the Fall wouldn't be the Fall without his caustic wit, random pop culture references, and savage attacks on society, the plodding "I've Seen Them Come" and "Laptop Dog" leave you wishing that his wife/keyboardist Eleni Poulou's Nico-esque vocals on the jangly "Happi Song" could have come to the forefront more often. If you haven't been charmed by any one of their previous 28 records, it's highly unlikely you'll succumb to their 29th. Their biggest champion, the late John Peel once said, "they are always different, they are always the same."
Mark Prindle Review:
Ersatz G.B. - Cherry Red 2011
8 out of 10
STUDIO ALBUM #28 - Against all expectations, the Imperial Wax Solvent line-up has survived intact to record a third Fall album!
So what is their secret? How have The Fall managed to release 28 good studio albums in a row -- more than any other band in history -- while having more turnover than a senior class (nearly FORTY PEOPLE have passed through the band since 1977) and being masterminded by an eccentric bully who is drunk 24 hours a day and on speed about half that time? The secret is simple: that drunken motorhead asshole knows exactly what Fall fans like because he likes it too. Even when he can't stand up or throw a punch straight, his ears and brain are sharp enough to know when his musicians are playing too busily, too pretentiously or too amelodically. He likes tunes -- simple but hooky tunes, repeated over and over and over and slathered in strange noises. So the musicians bring him songs, and he rejects the parts he hates and fills the remaining melody-shells with noise. In short, the musicians write the songs that make the whole world sing, and Mark Smith rips them apart until they sound like The Fall. It's a method that works. Or at least it has 28 times so far.
Ersatz G.B. is not another garage rock album (yay!), nor is it a return to the slicked-up sound of middle-period Fall (double yay!). Instead it's another great collection of wonderfully hooky tunes representing several rock subgenres, drummed crisply, bassed bubbly, guitared twangly, mixed raw and ready, and coated in barely audible voices and keyboard/guitar noodlings. There is such character to this guitar playing; even when doubled or set in opposition to each other, the guitarists are clearly human beings with fingers that move. There is no perfection here, nor sloppiness, but simply character. Sometimes the guitars just pluck away nice little notes in the background; at other times they drive the tunes with distorted fuzz chords. This line-up boasts tremendous variety while always remaining true to Mr. Smith's vision.
Fall sounds past, present and future co-mingle here:
THE PAST!
"Taking Off" - The Fall haven't performed a song this gleefully bubblegum poppy since the '80s Brix era
"Laptop Dog" - Acoustic guitars, electric guitars and lovely keyboard tones create a warm full mix in this heartwarming yet skrankly college rock song straight outta the Simon Rogers days
"I've Seen Them Come" - "Wings, Pt. II: Even Wingier!"
THE PRESENT!
"Nate Will Not Return" - The crackly scratchy modal guitarwork and mesmeric rhythm drive could've come straight off the last record
"Mask Search" - If this were just another garage rock record, more of the songs would sound like this rockabilly Gene Cochran throwback
"Monocard" - Three boring bass notes played four hundred million times in a row, just like something you might find on Fall Heads Roll!
"Age of Chang" - With its combination of pissed-off '60s garage riffs, wiggly UFO noises, trebly demo guitars occasionally sneaking into the mix, needlessly lo-fi Smith vocals and band-shouted Tuff Guy chorus, this definitely fits into the recent trend of Fall mixes that make no goddamned sense at all.
THE FUTURE!
"Cosmos 7" - Krautpunk!? Hardcore minimalism? Hex Enduction Hour as performed by New Bomb Turks!?
"Greenway" - The Fall's ridiculous entree into heavy metal, essentially a cover of THIS SONG RIGHT HERE, but with lyrics bitching about the band These New Puritans (thank you Adrian Denning for the research!)
"Happi Song" - A gentle organ song written and sung by Mark's wife, who apparently would be happier in Yo La Tengo
But before you go buy it because it rules, let me just say three important things:
1. For some reason the last three songs are all accented on the downbeat. No clue why, but be ready for that. I urge you to be ready for that. Barack Obama wasn't, and now he's been shot dead.
2. Many people chuckle during "Mask Search" when Mark announces, "I'm so sick of Snow Patrol." This is because we all find it adorable when Mark makes fun of other bands. Remember that time he said, "If we keep going like this, we'll end up like King Crimson"? I never stopped laughing at that, and now I'm banned from the pubs. Banned banned banned 'cause they don't like laughs. Banned from the pubs. Banned banned banned; they don't want autographs. Banned from the pubs. Banned from the pubs. Banned from the (rat-a-tat-a-tat-a) pubs.
3. Mark has added a bizarre new vocal approach to his tiny arsenal: a disturbing growly thing that sounds like he has a frog in his throat -- and I mean an actual living frog.
In short, they've done it again. As David Peel once said, "Have a marijuana."
In short, they've done it again. As John Peel once said, "They're always the same, always different and always high on methamphetamine."
Also, I'm banned from the pubs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chOVH_aj9c0&feature=player_embedded
Oh, I know what you're thinking. "Hay Mark! Why not embed a song that's actually BY THIS BAND? Or better yet, ON THIS ALBUM!?"
Okay, you've spoken and I've listened. Here's "Taking Off":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BFPt001PYU&feature=player_embedded
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