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All Music Guide Review:
Review by Ned Raggett
Smith once again landed on his feet after departing a label, ditching Matador in favor of Permanent, but Cerebral Caustic is notable for many other reasons. First, of all people, Brix Smith (still going by the name) rejoined the lineup, while future events made this the last studio album featuring Craig Scanlon. Though not an original member, his guitar playing for many made the Fall as much as Smith's vision and vocals, and knowing in retrospect that this was his unintentional final bow makes Cerebral that much more of interest. On top of that, Dave Bush would also leave after this album and its tour to join Elastica. Musically, Cerebral followed in the vein of recent albums like Infotainment Scan, blending techno-derived touches and glam-era sonic tributes to the usual stew of approaches. Generally the band sounds like they're having a great time, pulling out some odd arrangements and fun little touches, like the rising and falling melody of "Life Just Bounces." Smith himself sounds a touch disconnected around the edges, but makes up for it with some interesting vocal treatments and sudden interjections to leaven things up. Perhaps the strangest of the bunch is "Bonkers in Phoenix," with Brix's voice turned into overdubbed Chipmunks while the music combines a soft, low volume lope with sudden bursts of noise and Smith rants. One of the sharpest songs in context is "Don't Call Me Darling" -- while the truth can't be known, hearing Brix deliver the chorus with a roaring edge in response to Smith's verses makes a listener wonder. As is often the case, a cover version helps to spice things up -- having paid tribute to Frank Zappa elsewhere, here the band cover his "I'm Not Satisfied" in low-key but well-paced fashion. Smith has good fun blurring and double-tracking his vocal, and the result is another winner in the Fall's series of remakes.
Mark Prindle Review:
Cerebral Caustic - Permanent Records 1995.
8 out of 10
STUDIO ALBUM #17 - Well, this is a fine howdy-do! Just when you think you've got The Fall pegged as an easy-listening pop/dance band, Brix and Karl Burns come back, they dump the keyboardist, and then they record the most dissonant, amateurish album they've done since... hell, ever!!! This is one friggin' noisy album! Real good, though. "The Joke," "Don't Call Me Darling," and "The Aphid" are scummy garage rock, "Rainmaster" and "Pearl City" are poppier (but still noisy as a toaster - and just as delicious!), "Feeling Numb" sounds like a Clash/Stone Roses collaboration (Oh! I'm sorry - I meant a Rancid/Oasis collaboration), "Bonkers In Phoenix" would be a normal Brix ballad if Mark didn't chipmunk her voice and overdub a bunch of computer noises at twice the volume of the rest of the song. "One Day" is a balls-to-the-wall punk rocker; plus they do a semi-parody of "Life Just Bounces" (from The Dredger EP) and a Frank Zappa cover before ending the album with two beautiful "experimental" pieces. No, not beautiful. Ugly. But masquerading as beautiful. Like Cher, for example.
Crap, this is a good album. The drum sound could not be fresher, louder, crispier - I guess that's what happens when you have two drummers, unless of course you're the Grateful Dead, in which case you just don't write any good songs. An absolutely fun listen - like a seesaw with an adorable picture of Mark wearing angel wings. I'd give it a 9, but the melodies, as a whole, aren't quite as creative and hypnotic as those on Middle Class Revolt. Still, it's awfully exciting to be surprised by a new Fall album! This is the first time in their career that they've made a full-tilt stylistic change this quickly, but it's wonderful! Not like REM and U2 trying to prove they're young hip old bags by putting on stupid sunglasses and playing overproduced generic 90's tripe, but a very talented band who were in the mood to make a different kind of album. A very creative 17th studio album. Look at that number. 17. The Fall have made 17 great studio albums. Oasis have made 0. That's all I'm saying.
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