The Fall Cup: Stage 1, Groups 3-4

 

Group 3

Early Days of Channel Fuhrer, Dog is Life / Jerusalem, Couples Vs Jobless Mid 30s, Papal Visit, High Tension Line, The League of Bald Headed Men, Totally Wired, Rollin’ Dany, Bo Demmick, Das Vulture Ans Ein Nutter-Wain, Get a Hotel, Don’t Call Me Darling, This Perfect Day, Hands Up Billy, Petty (Thief) Lout

The Fallen

'Don't Call Me Darling', although bzfgt thought it a 'decent track' and Richard described it as a 'plump-bellied roadhouse boogie enlivened by Brix’s grunge-angled chorus delivery', didn't attract any points. 'Hands Up Billy' fared only slightly better, Richard's comment being: 'Awful song, end of. The only real pleasure I get from this is imagining it’s about James Herriott examining a goat for bowel troubles.'

It won't surprise anyone that 'Papal Visit' is making an early exit. 'Rollin' Dany' got a 3 from Lewis ('decent enough cover') but that was its lot. Lewis thought that 'Get A Hotel' was one of the better tracks on The Frenz Experiment, but for me it's a prime example of the weak songwriting that bedevils much of that album. Richard agreed: 'As forgettable and inoffensive as the artworks in the Travelodge lift lobby'. The cover of The Saints' 'Perfect Day' got a 7 from Eric but received little support elsewhere. 

'Bo Demmick' got a respectable 18 overall, but is no more than a solid enough album track. Although bzfgt enjoyed the 'stirring refrain' of 'High Tension Line', Lewis thought it 'inoffensive but average'. Richard agreed:

'Some tracks achieve no points, and some tracks have no points thrust upon them. I always expected the give this mostly harmless single a point or 2, until I found that I hadn’t. Them’s the breaks.' 

The oddly fragile 'Early Days of Channel Fuhrer' only missed out on the top 6 by a couple of points.

The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

Three tracks finished a long way ahead of the rest. The weirdly proggy mayhem of 'Couples Vs Jobless Mid 30s' was the clear winner; I've been on a podcast talking about my love of 'Couples', so it should be no surprise that it got a maximum 12 points from me. It was also no shock that the mighty 'Jerusalem' sailed through. 'The League of Baldheaded Men' was, for Eric, 'the clear group winner for me here, one of the best cuts from one of (in my book) the best Fall albums... great stuff, lyrically and musically, with a punchy performance by all parties.'

'Petty (Thief) Lout' owed much of its success to bzfgt and Lewis (the latter commenting 'I always loved this one, the quiet creepy sections where our hero sneaks down the back passage against the loud snatch & grab moments.') 'Totally Wired' and 'Das Vulture Ans Ein Nutter-Wain' tied for 6th place, although the latter was a little devisive, getting a maximum score from bzfgt ('a masterpiece, albeit a masterpiece of dumbness') but a zero from Lewis.

Group 4

Slippy Floor, New Formation Sermon, Bury!, Strychnine, Can Can Summer, Futures and Pasts, Mark’ll Sink Us, Junk Man, 4 1/2 Inch, Secession Man, WMC – Blob 59, A Lot Of Wind, I Feel Voxish, I African Mancunian, Rowche Rumble

The Fallen

The Fall's version of The Groundhogs' 'Junkman' was a zero-pointer. Richard: 

'I respect the ugliness of this cover, it sounds like a Punch & Judy show with a terrible hangover, but that may not be something we always want in our ears.' 

'WMC – Blob 59' was never likely to fare well, especially when taken out of context; 'I African Mancunian' and 'Secession Man' got predictably low scores. 'Strychnine' is a sound enough if 'inconsequential' (bzfgt) cover that received only a handful of points, although none of them from Lewis: 'if I never hear Strychnine again it will be too soon.'

'A Lot Of Wind' suffers from a somewhat mundane lyric. Richard: 'Oh, great Mark, share with us your searing insights into our society! What’s that? Giles Brandreth’s knitwear is garish, and the discussion on Pebble Mill At One tend towards the inconsequential?' For me, it's one of the very few Fall songs where there's a far better cover version...

In my opinion, 'New Formation Sermon' is a pleasant little oddity with a fetching hoe-down vibe, and bzfgt went as far as to give it 6 points: 'sometimes these crazy mumbly tracks are what's called for'. The rest of the panel were unimpressed. Richard: 'This is a backroom jam. The Fall should improvise, extemporise, and ad lib, but they must never jam.' 

I'm also very fond of the melancholy, almost prog-like 'Mark'll Sink Us' (I gave it a 7, as did Richard), so I was disappointed that it didn't make it through. bzfgt considered 'Futures And Pasts' to be a 'minor classic', but like 'Sink', it fell 2 points short of qualification for the next round.

The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

'Bury!' and '4½ Inch' were the runaway joint winners of the group, receiving strong support from all and finishing 12 points clear of their nearest rival. 'Y.F.O.C./Slippy Floor' came third, despite only getting a single mark from Richard. 

'I Feel Voxish' was another comfortable qualifier ('the riff is untouchable' according to bzfgt). The last two places were filled by 'Can Can Summer' and 'Rowche Rumble' - I suspect that the latter finishing only in joint sixth might raise an eyebrow or two...

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