The Fall Cup: Stage 1, Groups 1-2
Group 1
New Big Prinz, Hip Priest, Victrola Time, The Littlest Rebel, Ludd Gang, Oleano, Hot Cake, Laptop Dog, Mere Pseud Mag Ed, Who Makes The Nazis? The Joke, Blood Outta Stone, Midwatch 1953, Jap Kid, R.O.D.
The Fallen
All 15 tracks gained at least one point, but for a couple of songs that was all they managed. 'Littlest Rebel' got its sole point from Lewis, who described it as an 'inoffensive little pop song'. Richard thought that, 'On Extricate, it fits in nicely and does its job well.. but do I want this tidy but foursquare 60s bop commanding my full attention? I’m not sure I do... the harmonica is good, mind.'
'Laptop Dog' was the other one-pointer. It got short shrift from Richard:
'Computers are rubbish, says man who decided what they were in 1983. Laptops are rubbish says man who has never used a laptop. People who like laptops are rubbish says man who once saw someone he didn’t like using one, which is a bit like criticising socks because Kenny G wears them when playing boring sax. Course, I’ll tell you what’s really rubbish: uninteresting snare drum rhythms mixed too loud.'
Julia Nagle's pretty but rather inconsequential intrumental 'Jap Kid' fared little better. 'Midwatch 1953' gained 5 of its 7 points from me: I rather enjoy its queasy sloppiness, but the rest of the panel were unmoved. I thought live stalwart 'The Joke' might have scraped its way through, but although Lewis considered it 'decent garage rock', Eric lumped it in with the 'wan bag of grooves and pisstakes' that received a zero from him. Richard also gave it zero, albeit in a relatively sympathetic manner:
'Everyone likes tracks that begin Fall gigs, because no matter how average they might be compositionally, they are the gateway into an hour or so of gigging excitement (or, in many cases in The Joke’s tenure as opener, at least confirm that the gig will go ahead in some form or other). But, you know, it's not really good musically or lyrically, and we must confront that truth.'
'Hot Cake', 'Ludd Gang' and 'Oleano' all picked up points here and there, but not enough to progress. 'Blood Outta Stone', despite strong support from Lewis ('an absolute favourite of mine, why the f*ck it was a b-side instead of gracing Shift-Work is beyond me...') fell just one point short.
[I'm not going to write a great deal about the successful tracks, as obviously we'll be revisiting them in later rounds...]
'Hip Priest' won the round, despite the fact that Lewis thought it 'a Fall classic but a bit overrated'. Its 'feisty bastard spawn' (as Eric described it) 'New Big Prinz' also sailed through easily. This panel is no set of 'look back bores', so it's no surprise that the taut Krautrock of 'Victrola Time' performed well.
The other three qualifiers ('R.O.D.', 'Mere Pseud Mag Ed' and 'Who Makes The Nazis?') won't be a surprise to anybody, although interestingly all three of them got a zero from one member of the panel. It was Richard who shunned 'R.O.D.':
'Ultimately I find the attempt at gothic eeriness in the verse too obvious, and the chorus too short and clunky, and I wish that Craig would stop noodling about and play a riff or go away.'
Venice With The Girls, Youwanner, Victoria Train Station Massacre / New Facts Emerge, New Puritan, (Birtwistles) Girl in Shop, Rose, Living Too Late/Living Too Long, Pearl City, Arms Control Poseur, Senior Twilight Stock Replacer, Muzorewi’s Daughter, Bill is Dead, Why Are People Grudgeful?, Last Orders, The Birmingham School of Business School
The Fallen
'Muzorewi’s Daughter' is the first song to get zero across the board. 'One of the most heinous examples of my very least favorite MES vocal style: The Shriek', Eric comments, and I would agree with that, although for me the dubious lyrics are just as problematic. Richard concurs:
'I’ve always found the migraine guitar and the spavin-gaited changes of tempo incredibly annoying, but it’s the lyrics that really turn me away from this song, which always just sound like “ooga-booga, silly Africans” to me. I’m prepared to believe something else is intended, but I’m damned if I can tell what it is.'
'Last Orders', although a historically interesting example of the very early Fall sound, is very much the sound of a style under development. Lewis was on his own in thinking that 'Grudgeful' is 'great fun... a brave attempt at a reggae/ska tune.' I'm quite fond (albeit only one-point fond) of 'Pearl City', but only bzfgt and I had any time for it. I also really enjoy '(Birtwistles) Girl in Shop' (it's not much of an actual song, but it captures perfectly the essence of 'MES improvises vocals over something recorded that afternoon after a day in the pub') but it got little support elsewhere.
'Venice With The Girls' received a few marks from all, but not quite enough to progress. Perhaps the most controversial result of this round is the early exit of 'Bill Is Dead'. Although Eric considers it to be 'the closest thing to a touching ballad that Mark E. Smith ever wrote or sang', it ended up 4 marks short of making it through.
The (Are You Are Missing) Winners
'New Puritan' strolls through with maximum marks from 4/5 of the panel, closely followed by 'Living Too Late'. 'Victoria Train Station Massacre / New Facts Emerge' is, as Lewis points out, 'a damn good rock-out involving frogs'. For me, 'Youwanner' is a solid, enjoyable rocker, although I was a little surprised to see it place as high as fourth. No such surprise at 'Arms Control Poseur' and 'Birmingham' qualifying comfortably, even if Lewis thinks that the latter is 'overlong'.
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