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The Fall (band)

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This article is about the English punk band. For other uses, see Fall (disambiguation).

File:Mes-fall.jpg
Mark E. Smith, Fall frontman (1981)

The Fall are a British rock music group, formed in Manchester in 1977, and named after Albert Camus's novel. At best, The Fall have found only limited mainstream success in their homeland, and have never breached cult status in the United States. Yet they remain important for both their music, and for their subtle influence on several generations of musicians who keep an ear tuned to underground culture.

Formed during punk rock's rise, The Fall never quite fit into that movement or its post-punk/new wave offshoots. The Fall have continued for a quarter of a century in producing music which varies richly in both character and quality. The abrasive lyrics and half-droned, half-ranted vocals of frontman Mark E. Smith provide the one constant note through more than two prolific decades of dizzying personnel changes. An interview with Smith in May, 2004 reported "49 (band) members, 78 albums and 41 singles," and also quoted the opinion of their longstanding fan, the legendary English DJ John Peel: "They are always different, they are always the same." [1]

Indeed, Peel's comment evidences a common complaint, namely, that the Fall's prolific output lacks variety. This would seem a deliberate choice, as in 1989 Smith opined that "if you can't deliver it like a garage band, fuck it."[2]

Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine notes this same observation when he writes that "Only hardcore fans can differentiate between the Fall's many albums." Regarding the group's influence on later musicians, he notes that "the Fall, like many cult bands, inspired a new generation of underground bands, ranging from waves of sound-alike indie rockers in the U.K. to acts in America and New Zealand, which is only one indication of the size and dedication of their small, devoted fan base."[3]

The Fall's influences are worn lightly, though Can, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, The Residents, Van Der Graaf Generator and the more experimental work of The Velvet Underground are all evident. Their infrequent cover songs are mostly obscure songs by offbeat musicians, including a cover of William Blake's 1804 poem Jerusalem. The Fall have also covered more pop-orientated material like Sister Sledge's Lost in Music and The Kinks "Victoria". A reggae influence is also evident; Smith is an avid reggae fan (especially during his teen years), and like traditional reggae, most Fall songs are composed of simple, repeating riffs that Smith rants/sings over in his rhythmic drawl that owes a debt to reggae toasting.

The Fall's sound has generally remained constant from the clanking, almost rockabilly guitars of their early work to the amphetamine-rush of the more recent digitized backing tracks. What unites them is Smith's literate, paranoid, and verbose songwriting. His lyrics are sometimes maddeningly obscure (especially to non-British listeners), and usually caustic in their satire, wildly imaginative in their scope, embracing politics (e.g. "Marquis Cha Cha"), magic and mythology ("Elves", "Wings"), devastating critiques of passing fads (e.g. "C.R.E.E.P" and "Glam Racket"), and some brutal ad hominem diatribes (e.g. "Sing Harpy").

Smith is far from a great singer, but his keen sense of rhythm and attack more than compensate for this shortcoming. Perhaps his most distinctive trait is an explosive syllable added after some words, such as in his delivery of a lyric from "Free Range": "This is the spring-uh without end-uh".

History

From their first lineup of Smith, Martin Bramah (guitar), Tony Friel (bass), Una Baines (keyboards) and Karl Burns (drums) onward, the group produced a sound quite unlike anything else playing in the run-down dancehalls of northern England's new wave scene. Their performances (and Smith's confrontational demeanor) sometimes drew violent audience reactions. Their EP Bingo-Master's Break-out (1978), (already minus Friel), and debut album Live at the Witch Trials (1979), (minus Baines and, incidentally, not a live album), served up a caustic mix of belligerently provincial urban paranoia and scorn for cultural norms, atop a deceptively unsophisticated musical arrangement.

With Craig Scanlon and hitherto bassist Marc Riley on guitar, Steve Hanley on bass and Mike Leigh on drums (subsequently to be replaced by Paul Hanley and then a two-drummer lineup with a returned Burns), late 1979's L.P. Dragnet signalled a sparser, still more jagged feel, which was to fill out into a more grinding, industrial sound though Grotesque (After the Gramme) (1980), the 10-inch Slates (1981), Hex Enduction Hour (1982) and Room to Live (1982).

The autumn of 1983 heralded another dramatic change, this time to a relatively more pop music-oriented sound, with the arrival of Smith's American girlfriend and later wife, Californian Brix Smith, as guitarist alongside Scanlon. This era found The Fall scoring a few modest hits with singles from a string of highly acclaimed albums: Perverted by Language (1983), The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall (1984), This Nation's Saving Grace (1985), Bend Sinister (1986), The Frenz Experiment (1988). I Am Kurious, Oranj is notable as the fruit of a ballet project between Smith and dancer Michael Clark). Simon Rogers and later Marcia Schofield played keyboards, and Simon Wolstencroft replaced Burns on drums after This Nation's Saving Grace.

With Brix's departure in 1989, Bramah returned briefly for 1990's Extricate, leaving (along with Schofield) in advance of 1991's Shift-Work. Dave Bush joined on keyboards for 1992's Code: Selfish, followed by The Infotainment Scan (1993), Middle Class Revolt (1994) and Cerebral Caustic (1995).

With Bush gone and Scanlon sacked after 16 years (a decision later regretted by Smith), 1996 saw Brix's brief return and the arrival on keyboards, guitars and computers of Julia Nagle for The Light User Syndrome. The group was temporarily reduced to Smith and Nagle when a disastrous U.S. tour ended in April 1998 with a violent onstage row: Steve Hanley (bassist for 19 years), Burns (back for a final spell on drums) and guitarist Tommy Crooks all left or were sacked.

From this nadir, the Fall achieved another comeback with Smith and Nagle being joined by Neville Wilding on guitar, Karen Leatham and later Adam Halal on bass, and Tom Head on drums for the acclaimed albums The Marshall Suite (1999) and The Unutterable (2000). Further rifts followed in 2001, the new lineup of Smith, Ben Pritchard (guitar), Jim Watts (bass) and Spencer Birtwistle (drums) releasing Are You Are Missing Winner to mixed reviews. The Real New Fall LP (reputedly renamed from Country on the Click after an earlier mix of the album appeared on Internet file sharing networks) followed in 2003, with a slightly different mix and some extra tracks for the US version. Interim, released in November, 2004 is the band's most recent work.

In 2002 Q magazine named The Fall as one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die".

The early part of the 21st Century has seen the emergence of a number of bands who have been inspired by The Fall; two examples being Bloc Party and LCD Soundsystem. However in an interview, Smith stated that he didn't think the acts in question were much like The Fall.

Discography

For a detailed discography, see The Fall discography.

Trivia

  • Former Black Flag singer and current Rollins Band leader Henry Rollins is an avid fan of The Fall, stating of Smith "after well over 27 albums the man still keeps spewing forth the highest quality vitriol. I never get tired of this guy. I have pretty much all those records. I like 'em a lot, and I wouldn't wanna be caught in an elevator with him when it wasn't working." [4]
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