The Fall Cup: Quarter-finals 1&2
QF1: New Puritan v Fiery Jack
Steve: I do value 'Jack': not only is it a beautifully drawn vignette of working class life with some concisely evocative lyrics ('My face is slack / And kidneys burn in the small of my back') but it also has a crisp, invogorating energy that still sounds fresh over four decades later. It's also a significant moment in Fall history, a first 'dabbling in rockabilly' that fed into some of their most notable work of the period. However, I voted against it in the last 32 and last 16 and I'm going to do so again. For all its virtues, it sounds thin and slight compared to the towering, awe-inspiring 'righteous maelstrom’ that is 'New Puritan'. The third Peel session was an even more seismic shift in Fall history, and its apex was NP's torrent of lyrical invention (MES sounds like he's almost struggling to keep up with the ideas pouring from him) which, coupled with the lacerating guitars and formidable drumming, makes it an easy winner for me.
Eric: As noted in the prior round, I'm 0-for-5 in voting against "New Puritan" thus far. And I'm going to set myself up for going 0-for-6 by voting against it again, much preferring the feisty and fierce "Fiery Jack." There's been a fair amount of chatter about my (admittedly illogical) bias against songs that never had a true studio produced version, either as part of a single, or an album, or an EP (like "Slates"). We have a shabby demo version, numerous live takes, and the definitive Peel quasi-studio version available, and none of them rock my world like "Jack" does. Yes, the lyrics to "New Puritan" are epic, but there's just gotta be more of a there, there, for me to want to advance it.Which means you can safely bet at whatever odds you can find for it to make the Final Four.
bzfgt: New Puritan is one of the greatest of all Fall performances, and on top of that the lyrics that come closest to laying out MES's take on his role in the universe and his lyrics. Fiery Jack is a really worthy contender, but Paul Hanley's slamming toms make the coda of New Puritan one of the most thrilling stretches of music in the catalogue. And the vocal parts are also very exciting, there's a lot of forward propulsion and a sense that MES is onto your tricks and isn't having any. That's always a good MES mode. If NP won the whole thing I wouldn't be upset. If Leave the Capitol wins, on the other hand...
Richard: Having not voted for either of these in the previous round, at least I can't hold a grudge against either of them for knocking out a preferred track. Puritan takes it for the ornate, psychedelic barrage of the lyrics.
Lewis: I'll try and keep these short, it's just repetition otherwise, which we dig, but not too much. An undeniably brilliant hard hitting song, lyrically rarely bettered but that never got past its Peel session, vs one of my favourite singles, full of catchy rockabilly twangs and beats. There's no doubt New Puritan in its Peel session guise deserved to get this far but for me I'm sticking with the hit single, Fiery Jack, not forgetting some live renditions too, see Totales Turns. Obviously it wasn't a hit, but it should have been.
Result: New Puritan 3 - Fiery Jack 2
QF2: Leave the Capitol v Winter
Steve: 'Capitol' is another that I voted against in the last two rounds. Again, that's not to say that I don't recongise its quality - and I fully understand why some would use it as an introduction for the uninitiated. But whilst I admire its off-kilter arpeggios and bleak atmosphere, it's not even the best song on Slates (I would argue that it's occupying 'Prole Art Threat's rightful spot here). Since 'Garden' has been eliminated (by 'Capitol'), there surely has to be a place in the final four for one of the group's expansive epics, and so my vote goes to the masterclass in minimalism and abstract lyricism that is 'Winter'.
Eric: I love both of these songs, and I wish we had more Fall Epics like "Winter" in the Final Eight, but regardless, this one's pretty easy for me: "Leave the Capitol" for the win. "Winter" is wonderful and lyrically magical, but its split two-part presentation makes it hard to listen to its "Hex" studio version with a single flick of the "play" button, and its spaciousness takes some focus to really grab and nab you. "Capitol," on the other hand, is musically immediate, arranged with delicious perversity, and it also features a grand and quotable lyric, all of those things delivered in about 45% of the time it takes its competition to run its course. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
bzfgt: No contest here. Winter should win the whole thing. LTC is a good racket, with a side glance at being a pop song, that whacks at some of MES's preoccupations of the time and makes a good show of it. Winter, on the other hand, is one of the most mysterious and magical tracks I've ever heard. It succeeds on every level. This is a choice between something surprisingly great and something completely unfathomable in its brilliance.
Richard: Two poles on display here, one on hand the tight, springy mesh of Capitol, bursting with intricate lyrics, and featruring a dizzyingly deep soundfield filled with hidden details and textures on the Slates version, and on the other the simple, sparse, insistent WInter, with vivid but briefly sketched verbal images and a chilly hollowness in the recording. Had this been the final, I would not have argued for a second. My vote goes, by the slenderest of margins, to Capitol, because it wasn't split into two tracks for no reason.
Lewis: I've been harsh on Winter quite often. It's had some opponents that imo should have done better, but there's no doubt in my mind of the power and performance, and it's a lot more interesting than some other wannabee classic songs. Capitol has proved better to these ears than I'd previously given it credit to, but if there's one thing that still lets it down, it's a bit too safe despite the darker moments lurking within. And it's won one of these competitions before, so I'm giving Winter the nod this time.
Result: Leave the Capitol 2 - Winter 3
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