The Fall Cup: Stage 1, Groups 29-30

              


Group 29

Session Musician, To Nkroachment: Yarbles, The Remainderer, Fortress/Deer Park, Dramatic, Gramme Friday, (We Are) Mod Mock Goth, Don’t take the Pizza, Spencer Must Die, Just Step S’Ways, Lucifer Over Lancashire, Das Katerer, Behind the Counter, Tommy Shooter, Cowboy Gregori


The Fallen

'To Nkroachment: Yarbles' is one of those tracks that suffers from being taken out of context. 'Don't Take The Pizza' is, as Lewis said, 'B-side fodder; not terrible but just a b-side'. I was quite surprised by the level of antipathy toward 'Session Musician', which Lewis thought was 'tedious nonsense' and Eric judged to be 'another of those would-be epics that just doesn't merit its length'. The other songs that didn't make double figures were 'Dramatic' ('a truly slamming power trio rock song, very good, but not particularly Fall-like', thought Eric), 'Das Katerer' and 'Cowboy Gregori' ('enjoyable but forgettable' according to bzfgt).

I have always adored 'Spencer Must Die', admittedly for reasons I can't quite put my finger on, so I wasn't overly surprised to see it go out. '(We Are) Mod Mock Goth' got some points from everyone, but nowhere near enough to progress.

Undoubtedly the most controversial exit will be that of 'Lucifer Over Lancashire'. bzfgt thought it was 'the late 80s goth trip at its peak' and Lewis enjoyed how it 'rattles along at one hell of a pace', but Richard felt it became 'rather annoying after a while' and I'm inclined to agree with him.

The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

'Fortress/Deer Park' was a shoe-in for top spot, and it was no surprise to see 'Behind The Counter' do well, even if nobody can agree what the best version is. 'The Remainderer' is yet another late-period song to score highly. 'Just Step S'Ways' and 'Gramme Friday' were generally considered to be among the weaker tracks on their respective albums, but were never in real danger of not progressing. Eric was especially enthusiastic about 'Tommy Shooter': 'great in-your-face production and Mark strongly, clearly, and confidently delivering some choice lyrics with great imagery'.


Group 30

Higgle-Dy Piggle-Dy, Get A Summer Song Goin’, F-‘Oldin’ Money, Gentleman’s Agreement, And This Day, Glam-Racket, Breaking the Rules, Mad.Men-Eng.Dog, Sinister Waltz, Scenario, Happi Song, God Box, Fantastic Life, Masquerade, Jungle Rock


The Fallen

'Breaking The Rules' (a cover of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ ‘Walk Like A Man’ with amended lyrics) was subjected to general derision. Lewis described it as 'a crap remake of a crap song', Eric as 'dull and dreary'; Richard's comment was, 'Why not just play the cover, instead of writing some new but not very exciting lyrics? Is it a tax dodge?' I thought it just about bouncily engaging enough to save it from the zero point list. 'Jungle Rock' was another cover panned by Lewis ('boring and infantile'). Richard was only marginally more positive: 'I love the greasy barely tuned sound of this, it feels as though it will leave a sticky residue on your speakers, but the novelty song is not precisely towering genius.'

I have little time for the shapeless, lacklustre 'Gentleman’s Agreement', and neither did anyone else, Eric calling it 'ploddy and plain and occasionally painful'. True to form, he did like 'Mad.Men-Eng.Dog', but although Lewis admitted that it was 'one of the few of these lo-fi noodles that I don't mind' in the context of the album, he thought it was 'nothing when taken on its own'. bzfgt was more terse: 'not much happens for me'.



There was some moderate support for 'F-‘Oldin’ Money' ('decent cover', thought bzfgt) and 'God Box', but only Lewis awarded either song significant points. He considered the former 'great fun and as good a rockabilly cover as any they've done' and the latter 'too good for a b-side... nice and sinister and slightly angry'.

I'm a big fan of Eleni and what she bought to the group, but I find 'Happi Song' trite and bland. Richard was only a little more forgiving: 'A very nice little ditty, but little ditty it is, and little ditties aren't quite enough to go through.' Lewis gave it a ten: 'Everyone else hates it but I don't give a f*ck.' 

Lewis was dismissive of 'Get A Summer Song Goin'': 'clearly substandard compared to the rest of YFOC, hence shoved out as a vinyl only bonus'. I'm quite fond of its lazy groove, as were Richard and bzfgt, but it fell some way short of qualifying. 'Scenario' was a particularly divisive track. bzfgt was a big fan ('a smoother mode of transportation' was his somewhat gnomic comment) and I was happy to get on board. Lewis, however, thought that 'MES sounds bored and disinterested'; Eric found it 'not bad, but not memorable'; Richard noted that it uses 'a riff you already stole once this album' (like 'Over! Over!', it 'borrows' from ‘Coming Down’ by The United States of America).



The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

'Fantastic Life' topped the group with our biggest winning margin so far. 'And This Day' generally divides opinion, but qualified comfortably. Although I like the wonderfully strange 'Sinister Waltz', I wasn't sure it would go through, but it did, despite Lewis' reservations: 'you'd think they'd have at least tried to end the most average album with something more compelling'.

'Higgle-dy Piggle-dy' is my favourite Fall cover, so I was pleased to see it progress despite getting zeroes from Eric and bzfgt.








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