The Fall Cup: Stage 2, Groups K-L

                      

The panel must award a total of 78 points to the songs in these groups; no song may receive more than 20 points, and they must give points to at least 8 of the 12 songs. The top 4 go through to the last 64.

Group K is made up of the qualifiers from groups 21 and 22 in the first stage.

A generally less contentious group than many so far, with only one sizeable mark for one of the non-qualifiers, and only one zero among the top four. Everyone gave an average of at least ten points to those that went through to the next stage.

'Dr Bucks' Letter' and 'Mister Rode' sailed through some distance ahead of the rest, the former gaining an impressive 72 (only 'The Classical' has beaten that thus far). 'Free Range' was hampered only slightly by a lack of love from Eric: 'It's sort of rote techno-Fall for me, sounding and feeling like a lot of other things of that style and from that era, just not as a good.' 'Slates, Slags, Etc.' was the other qualifier, Richard's enthusiasm being off-set by bzfgt's measly single point.

At the foot of the table, the gloriously discordant 'Ol' Gang' got short shrift from Richard ('way to ruin a glorious dirty groove, Smith') and bzfgt. Lewis gave it five 'for the sheer madness of it all' and Eric, like me, loved 'its messy carnival freak show vibe,' but it was nowhere near enough. I was astonished to see 'Gut Of The Quantifier' in equal last place. Lewis conceded that it was 'a great song,' but couldn't find it a point; bzfgt dismissed it as merely 'okay.'

'Telephone Thing' only just scraped through the first stage, so it wasn't that surprising to see it fall here, with only Lewis ('wonderful techno Fall single') and Richard giving it any support. Eric: 'Seems like it wants to swing and party, but is gormless on both fronts.' 'City Hobgoblins' also divided the panel, getting three decent marks but also two zeros.

I would agree with Eric that 'Green-Eyed Loco Man' is 'a great opener to a classic Fall album: fresh, crisp, powerful, and distinctive.' Richard was of the same view, but bzfgt and Lewis weren't, even if the former did praise the 'guitar hero Peel version.'

'Various Times' received marks across the board, Eric describing it as 'the very first proper Fall epic... a surprisingly mature step s'ways in the early evolution of the group'; Richard also enjoyed its 'jaundiced travelogue through the twentieth century.' Even bzfgt, its lowest scorer, recognised it as 'an early classic and as good as many other things; it fell victim to my priorities elsewhere. Almost as worthy of winning the whole thing as anything else, that’s the cruelty of this round.'

'Fall Sound's sixth place position was largely due to a hefty score from bzfgt: 'The version on the Red Box is one of the finest things they’ve done.' 'What You Need' is in many ways the archetypal Fall song, and was only four short of qualification. Richard: 'Riff, list, and chant, the three main ingredients for a Fall song - but perhaps this track needs another flavour to be one of the greats.'

Group L is made up of the qualifiers from groups 23 and 24 in the first stage.

Another group with a fair level of consensus: nothing outside the bottom five got a zero from anyone. Even last-placed 'Gibbus Gibson' attracted sympathetic comments from everyone. 'Cab Driver / City Dweller' was a long way off the pace despite a ten from Richard. 'Jam Song' raised a few eyebrows with its fourth-place finish in the first stage, but was undone here by zeros from Eric ('just because it's a jam song') and Richard ('This is so nearly very good, but falters at the gate. Maybe stop jamming and start honing?'). I love the track (even if I do appreciate why many others don't), especially the longer version:

Eric awarded high marks to both 'Dead Beat Descendant' ('coherence, tightness, punch and melodicism') and 'Two Steps Back' ('another of those early Fall songs that clearly demonstrate that they were onto something different from the hordes of Pistols-inspired would-be punks'), but there was insufficient overall support to take either through. Lewis was particularly disparaging of 'Two Steps Back': 'Not sure why it's still here, a most average LATWT moment.'

'An Older Lover Etc.', 'Look, Know' and 'Flat of Angles' all achieved decent totals, but decent songs are inevitably going to fall by the wayside at this stage. 

There was a clear top four, each of them receiving some significant scores: 'Middle Mass' got an 18 from bzfgt ('The odd, stiff middle riff seems like a message from another universe in some ways'); 'Lay Of The Land' was rewarded with a 16 from Lewis ('Thrills and spills, a touch of darkness at first and that mad amp-cranked bit at the end, this is how to open an album'). There were two maximum 20-point scores: Eric for 'Iceland' ('haunting and delirious... Mark's story-telling and delivery are as good as they get, and the group give him a perfect sonic setting for spinning his yarns') and bzfgt for 'Joker Hysterical Face' ('The off-pitch riff does something to my synapses that makes this one of the best musical experiences I know of').

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