The Fall Cup: Stage 1, Groups 21-22

          

Group 21

Riddler!, 2nd Dark Age, Room To Live, What You Need, Octo Realm/Ketamine Sun, Susan vs. Youthclub, Slates, Slags, Etc., Fall Sound, Slang King, Free Range, Telephone Thing, L.A., Dr. Bucks’ Letter, Mask Search, Choc-Stock

The Fallen

Eric, despite not being the biggest Dragnet fan, was the only person who could find a point for 'Choc-Stock', awarded for its 'jollity'. Lewis considered it 'throwaway nonsense', but Richard was a little kinder: 'Its heart is in the right place, but it’s just too much of a bloody mess to truly love.' With 'Mask Search', it was Lewis who was the sole benefactor. 'Pete and Dave bouncing off each other in fine form', he claimed, but I find more common ground with Eric's view: 'a bit of stock Fallabilly rendered with the same teeth-gnashingly bad mix that defines most of Ersatz GB'.

I enjoy what bzfgt described as the 'hazy. psychedelic' 'Ketamine Sun', although I can't argue with his assessment of the 'Octo Realm' section as 'dumb'. I thought '2nd Dark Age' might do a little better, but despite Eric admiring its 'terse angular atonality' it fell a long way short. John Peel's least favourite Fall track 'L.A.' did little better. 

'Susan vs. Youthclub' was one of our more divisive ones, getting a 10 from Eric ('outstanding bit of squiggly electronica') but being dismissed by Lewis and Richard: 'sounds like a pop song in a K-hole after a couple of bongs and a Benylin spritzer'. (No, me neither.) Eric was also a fan of 'Riddler!', and bzfgt 'loved the bass', but Lewis found it 'just a bit too goth'. 

The pair of tracks that only missed out by a couple of points are both ones that I'm sad to see go out. In particular, I thought 'Room To Live' deserved to qualify for the fine In A Hole version (with which Lewis concurred). Alas, the part that I like about this live recording was the main factor behind Richard's zero: 'I’ve never liked Riley’s chintzy little guitar line'. It was largely Eric who condemned 'Slang King' to failure, expressing distaste for Brix's backing vocal and the 'cheesy keyboard line'. 

The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

Not only did 'Telephone Thing' just scrape in, it became only the fourth song to qualify despite receiving a zero from two of the panel (the others being 'O.F.Y.C. Showcase', 'Carry Bag Man' and 'No Respects Rev.') I've nothing against 'Telephone Thing', but Eric described it as 'gormless'. Lewis, however, praised the group for being 'brave to attempt what must have been way out of their comfort zone'.

No surprises with the top four (other than bzfgt failing to find any points for 'Slates, Slags, Etc.'), but I didn't expect 'Fall Sound' to sail through so easily. Again, it's a track I have nothing against, although it does feel like it's one of three or four variations on the same song that appear on RPTLC.  

Group 22

Spinetrak, Italiano, Mother-Sister!, Guide Me Soft, Gut of the Quantifier, Van Plague?, City Hobgoblins, I’m a Mummy, Mexico Wax Solvent, Ol’ Gang, On My Own, Bound, Various Times, Mister Rode, Green Eyed Loco Man

The Fallen

If ever there was a track that was odds-on to get zero, it was 'Italiano', the 'quite appalling' (Lewis) techno version of 'Oleano'. (Richard suggested, not unreasonably, that it should perhaps have been one of the tracks that didn't make the final list of 480.) The sluggish house of 'On My Own' is, as Eric pointed out, a disappointing finale to 'the otherwise punchy Marshall Suite'. 

We also lost two of the less notable tracks from I Am Kurious Oranj. 'Van Plague?' is perhaps more interesting for its lyric (Richard particularly liked 'rancid kid drowned in lagoon') than the music; 'Guide Me Soft' is mildly diverting but ultimately inconsequential. 'Bound' is enjoyably jaunty but similarly lightweight. Eric thought that it answered the question 'What happens if you suck every last possible bit of soul out of a middling soul single?'

Although I could only find a single point for it, I have some sympathy for Lewis' assessment of 'I'm A Mummy': 'It's crap of course, but brilliantly so; you'd need to be devoid of soul not to smile at this'. 'Spintrak' gained a fairly respectable 13 points (Lewis awarded his two for the 'crisper and more urgent' Peel version), but was blanked by Eric and Richard, the latter's comment being 'Not so much bad, as overly typical of the era'. The failure of 'Mexico Wax Solvent' to progress was yet another disappointment for me. I could not disagree more with Lewis' view that it is 'lumpy, and goes on too long'. 

In an exciting development, we had our first tie-break situation, with both 'Mother-Sister!' and 'Ol' Gang' receiving 22 points. Lewis thought that the Peel session performance of the former was 'blinding'; Eric's take on the latter was that it's 'a complete shambles of a song, like much of Levitate, but I love its messy carnival freak show vibe'. It's 'Ol' Gang' that prevails, as it got a higher score from three of the panel, whereas 'Mother-Sister!' was only preferred by bzfgt and Richard.

The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

Not for the first time, a latter-day song topped the group, the 'absolutely mindblowing' (Lewis) 'Mister Rode' gaining top marks from three of the panel. 'Green Eyed Loco Man', according to Eric, is a 'great opener to a classic Fall album... fresh, crisp, powerful, and distinctive'; both bzfgt and Lewis commented on the quality of the Peel version.

I thought that 'Gut of the Quantifier' was a no-brainer qualifier, but bzfgt rained on its parade a little: 'pleasant, but for some reason it never moves me much'. 'Various Times' was quite rightly rewarded for being an early indication of how different The Fall were to many of their contemporaries. Lewis described it as 'so dark... harrowing even' before wondering how it ended up 'on the arse-side of a most ramshackle a-side'. 

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