The Fall Cup: Stage 1, Groups 17-18

        


Group 17

Shift-work, Wrong Place, Right Time, Mollusc In Tyrol, Hittite Man, Butterflies 4 Brains/Whizz Bang, The Chiselers, Psykick Dancehall, Bad News Girl, Last Chance to Turn Around, White Line Fever, Oswald Defence Lawyer, Noise, Hexen Definitive/Strife Knot, Louie Louie, The Past #2


The Fallen

Another set of covers get a slating. 'Louie Louie' (as heard on Live 1977) is notable for Tony Friel's somewhat sarcastic send off, but is virtually unlistenable otherwise. As Eric pointed out, 'nobody ever needs to do that song again, ever'. Richard:

'Meaningless to judge this: they’re playing Louie Louie badly, they know they’re playing it badly, they’re happy they’re playing it badly. Shorn of experiential context there’s very little we can do with this except file it historically.'  

As for this group's 'experimental' tracks, bzfgt found a point for the 'woozy keys' on 'Noise' and Lewis enjoyed 'MES taking the p*ss out of Pete Greenway, with lots of swirling guitar and keyboards' - Eric, however, thought that 'the Mark exclaiming over ugly sonic beds thing is done much better elsewhere'. 'Mollusc in Tyrol' did a little better. Eric in particular was a fan: 

'Call it half-baked, call it experimental, call it found sound, call it musique concrete, call it whatever else you want, but these bizarre little forays into Mark's mind and creative process are almost always welcome in my listening life, and this one's in the upper echelons of the cohort.'


'Butterflies 4 Brains' gained four points from bzfgt for being a 'good pop song', but Lewis thought it 'bland and uninteresting'. For me, 'Oswald Defence Lawyer' is possibly the most tedious song The Fall ever recorded, and Richard (like Brix) largely agreed: 'Here we have a repetitive riff, revisionist history, and baroquely obscure imagery, but it still drags'.

I thought 'Bad News Girl' might have done a little better (especially because of the punchy final third). 'Shift-work' came close to qualifying - a song that's better served by various live recordings than its rather stodgy studio incarnation.


The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

A fairly predictable top six, although as someone who's always banging on about how underrated Re-Mit is, it was gratifying to see 'Hittite Man' come joint top. Lewis was unconvinced by 'Wrong Place, Right Time' ('a bit lumpy and staccato') and Eric blanked 'The Chiselers': 'Music's alright, but Brix's vocals set my teeth on edge, and the whole "Pink Floyd are short" lyric and related nonsense, delivered with serious urgency = ugggh'.




Group 18

The Crying Marshal, No Xmas For John Quays, Fit and Working Again, My Ex-Classmates Kids', Stephen Song, Gross Chapel–British Grenadiers, Cheetham Hill, Couldn’t Get Ahead, Black Monk Theme Part I, C.R.E.E.P., Brillo De Facto, US 80s 90s, Life Just Bounces, O! Zztrrk Man, The Wright Stuff


The Fallen

Much more controversy here. Nobody will be surprised at 'The Wright Stuff' making an early exit (although Lewis liked Eleni's vocals and thought the track was 'fun though not fantastic'). The general consensus on 'My Ex-Classmates' Kids' was that 'I Wake Up In The City' had already scooped up the song's points. To a large extent, Mike Bennett's contributions to 'Cheetham Hill' seemed to scupper its chances (although I do love the way that MES enunciates 'Manchester'). I also admire the fuzzy incoherence of 'O! Zztrrk Man', although I do understand others' reservations.


More contentious exits included 'Couldn't Get Ahead' (bzfgt: 'fun, but I ran out of points') and - inexplicably, as far as I'm concerned - 'Life Just Bounces'. Like 'British People In Hot Weather', 'US 80's 90's' was championed by Richard but others thought that it hadn't aged well. 

The biggest controversy, I imagine, will be the failure of 'No Xmas For John Quays' to go through. I've never been a fan of the song, but I thought it might attract sufficient support elsewhere. However, other then Richard's ten points, that support was largely not forthcoming, although Lewis praised 'the stunning and brutal Totale's Turns version with MES in incredibly angry mood'.


The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

'Gross Chapel - British Grenadiers' romped home with top marks from 4/5 of the panel. The success of 'Fit And Working Again' means that half of the tracks on Slates have now qualified with comfort. 'Black Monk Theme Part 1' is generally regarded as one of The Fall's more effective covers, so it was no surprise to seeing it bucking the trend here. 

Perhaps more surprising was the strong showing of 'The Crying Marshal' (Lewis was keen to point out that his points were for alternative version 'The REAL Life Of The Crying Marshal') and 'Brillo De Facto' (although songs from New Facts Emerge have in the main fared well so far). Richard remained unconvinced about both, although he recongnised that 'Marshal' is 'crunchy and chunky'. The most divisive qualifier was 'Stephen Song', Lewis being put off by Gavin Friday's 'overpowering' vocal.







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