THE FALL レコード& CD

Review: We all lost a big one in 2018 with the death of Mark E. Smith. One of the most prolific songwriters of the preceding decades, and the only constant member of The Fall, he channelled humour of the disenfranchised, rage of the people, punk sensibilities and experimental tendencies to create something that genuinely sounded fresh. Amazingly, it still did by the time he bid us farewell. That's some longevity of vitality, and when a band has such a lifespan it's almost impossible to even consider a Best Of type release. White Lightening is as close as you'll get, then, focusing on ten tracks recorded by the outfit, in various iterations, between 1978 and 2001 - amazingly, charting two-thirds of the 40 year story in a way which, while not necessary expansive, really conveys exactly what they were about at different points in that career, and throughout their entire era-spanning run.

Review: The Fall apparently weren't thrilled with Rough Trade focusing so many resources on the Smiths, not least as it meant the full length video they wanted to make to accompany this, their sixth studio album, would not be possible, while the other band got the money to make one. Mark E Smith and company's response was to produce their own, and in many ways the 52-minute Perverted By Language Bis, directed by multifaceted French enigma Claude Bessy, remains one of the archetypal pieces of Fall iconography. The music isn't bad on its own, either, opening on the relentlessly catchy 'Eat Y'self Fitter', once described as "endlessly cycling rockabilly chug with extra keyboard oddities and sudden music-less exchanges for the chorus." 'Neighbourhood of Infinity' then picks up the pace, and grit, and we're soon in deep. A record that impresses musically and in terms of forward thinking production (see: 'Garden') without sacrificing the grass roots energy of post punk at the time.