The Fall Cup: Stage 1, Groups 7-8

   

Group 7

The Classical, Hey! Fascist/Hey! Student, I’m Going To Spain, Calendar, Birthday, Bourgeois Town, Hurricane Edward, A Past Gone Mad (Passable), Dedication Not Medication, Recipe for Fascism, Victoria, Insult Song, The Aphid, Return, In These Times

The Fallen

The cover of 'Birthday' (originally recorded by Jeff Lynne's The Idle Race in the late 60s) joins our growing list of zero-pointers. Richard described it as a 'hideous cruise-ship rendition'; Lewis was more blunt: 'sloppy sh*te'. 'Recipe For Facism', a Levitate bonus track, is one of those brief, fractured bits of MES spoken word soundscape: if anyone was going to give it any marks, its was Eric, and he dutifully awarded it 2. Everyone else's attitude was best summed up by Richard: 

'Levitate is a gloriously strange experience.  The bonus disc is merely a strange experience.  This track is barely an experience'.

Following the early exit of 'Ghost in My House', another hit single, 'Victoria' failed to progress. It managed only a paltry two points courtesy of Lewis, and even that was lukewarm - he described it as only 'marginally better' than 'Ghost'. I don't mind 'Victoria' in the slightest, but it doesn't add anything to the clearly superior original. Many people have a soft spot for 'I'm Going To Spain', but that wasn't the case here, and it only gained 4 points. To be honest, the story behind the song is far more interesting than the track itself, and, as Eric noted, MES' vocal is 'painful to listen to'.

Eric thought that he might be the only one giving any points to 'Insult Song', but I've also grown at least a little fond of what I described in YMGTA as 'an angular, funky Beefheart-esque jam in the spirit of 70s comedy roasts'. Eric: 'MES seems to be having so much fun doing it, and I'm sucker for Fun Mark'. We were clearly in the minority though: Lewis thought it 'an insult to the listeners as well as the group', and had no time for MES' 'cod-American accent'; Richard's comment was, 'of all the micro-genres of Fall songs, the “Mark ribs the band” category is my least favourite'.

'Hey! Fascist / Hey! Student' attracted a little support (Lewis thought it 'punchy'), but both Richard and I were disappointed with the rather lame attack on an easy target on the updated version. bzfgt 'digs' 'In These Times', but Eric found it 'fussy and forced'. I really like 'Calendar' (the short version from the 'Masquerade' single rather than the Peel version) but most of the panel clearly don't. 'Bourgeois Town', despite being lauded by Lewis, fell a point short of qualifying.

The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

It will surprise nobody that 'The Classical' topped the group. 'Dedication Not Medication' was a clear second (Lewis awarded his 10 points for the vinyl version which 'p*sses all over the CD'). The frenetic, electronica/D&B-infused 'A Past Gone Mad' was a comfortable third. bzfgt gave 'Return' top marks for its 'hypnotic qualities', but also noted he could 'see if someone said this is blah'. I am one of those people: I find it turgid and dull. 

'Hurrican Edward' is undoubtedly one of The Fall's more 'difficult' tracks, but it qualified with relative comfort. Despite Eric's view that it's 'clunky and non-special', 'The Aphid' squeezed into the final slot, even though some of the praise was a little lukewarm (bzfgt: 'minor but on the money; Lewis: 'decent enough Fall-by-numbers tune').

Group 8

Stout Man, Strange Town, Outro, The $500 Bottle Of Wine, Pinball Machine, Nine Out of Ten, Pacifying Joint, Industrial Estate, 986 Generator, Over! Over!, Coach and Horses, I Come And Stand At Your Door, Printhead, Barmy, White Lightning

The Fallen

I don't think we need to spend any time discussing why 'Outro' found itself pointless. '$500 Bottle Of Wine' didn't fare much better: even though Richard thought that 'Steve Hanley's rolling millwheel bass nearly got this one over the line', he still found it 'a thin and tasteless concoction.' 'Stout Man' is, as Eric noted, a 'pointless cover' of The Stooges' 'Cock In My Pocket'; it's perhaps regrettable that this was the last song that The Fall ever played live.

Although Lewis considered 'White Lighning' to be 'a much better cover than Victoria or Ghost', nobody else had much time for what Richard described as 'an old rock warhorse'. 'I Come And Stand At Your Door' got 7 points from Eric, but the rest of us were largely unmoved. 'Pinball Machine' garnered some positive comments (bzfgt: 'a pretty great cover') but fell some way short of making it through to the next round. Both Richard and Lewis liked 'Printhead' but it also finished some way off the pace. 

In general, covers have not fared too well in this competition; although 'Strange Town' did better than many (I'm quite fond of it, and Lewis found 'the glitches and mid-song disintegration hilarious'), it's another that will play no further part. '986 Generator' is the kind of long-form groove that Eric and I are always going to go for. As he describes:

'A long stomper of a song, with plinky acoustic guitar, and a rhythm that sounds like it's entirely crafted out of a bunch of hillbillies stomping their leathery bare feet on a cracked wooden stage, vibrating the tack piano in the corner that's about to break through the deck, killing the six tick-riddled hound dogs sleeping the crawl space beneath the shack.'

The rest of the panel, however, were largely unimpressed. Richard: 'Why are The Fall playing this generic country vamp, and, more to the point, why are they doing it for what feels like nine hours?' Lewis concurred: 'Annoyingly dragged out for eight minutes when five would have been fine'. 

The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

'Barmy' and 'Nine Out Of Ten' topped the group by some distance, even though Lewis' comment on the latter - despite accepting that it's 'poignant' - was, 'sadly it's just two blokes jamming while pissed'. 'Over! Over!' (one of the group's more shameless 'borrows') claimed third, despite Richard's reservations:

That forced “I’m mad, me!” laugh destroys this hasty respray of a half-inched tune, which otherwise might have snuck into the victory paddock.  I don’t love it, and I never did.

Both 'Coach And Horses' and 'Industrial Estate' were somewhat devisive. I love 'Coach' and find it intriguing, but Lewis dismissed it as 'an unfinished demo'. I also agree with Eric's comment on 'Industrial Estate':

'A grand little shoutalong of punky politics that gets stuck in my brainbox every time I hear it. I'm glad they made this song, and then I'm ever gladder that they moved on to other sounds.'

The final qualifying place was filled by 'Pacifying Joint', which got uniformly mid-range marks and is, as bzfgt pointed out, 'fun enough'.

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