Album: This Nation's Saving Grace
Artist: The Fall
Artist: The Fall
Born: Prestwich, Greater Manchester
Released: September 1985
Genre: Punk Poetry
Influenced: Sonic Youth, Pavement, Franz Ferdinand, Liars, LCD Soundsystem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Where to start with The Fall? It's fair to say I'm not a devoted fan, certainly nowhere near the level of John Peel. Every year of Peel's Festive 50, from 1979 when Rowchee Rumble first entered at No.40 until 2003 (the last before Peel died), The Fall always featured in the Top 50. Peel chose Eat Y'Self Fitter as one of his Desert Island Discs and kept all of his Fall LPs separate from the rest of his collection. I understand the appeal, Mark E. Smith is a true outsider and also an unrelenting cynic (this interview is illuminating). Part of his outlaw status stems from the fact that Smith sees himself more as a writer than a musician: "I see writing and singing as two very different things. My attitude is if you can't deliver it like a garage band, f**k it. That's one thing that's never been explored, delivering complex things in a very straightforward rock 'n' roll way." Smith likes to tout his philosophical credentials (The Fall is the name of a novel by French existentialist Albert Camus, detailing the Dantesque descent into hell of a middle-class lawyer), but there's little philosophy in the songs. That said, there's a lot of humour and sharp observation, mixed with bile and unflinching honesty. In that way, though he's not as gifted a writer, Smith does remind me of fellow roué Michel Houellebecq. Both also share a love of the bleak worldview of HP Lovecraft. Musically, The Fall definitely have a DIY punk / garage band ethos, and on 1985 single Couldn't Get Ahead they almost sound like the Ramones. Another single from 1985 that didn't make it on to This Nation's Saving Grace was Cruiser's Creek, which sees Smith at his nihilistic best slagging off his contemporaries, Red Wedge (Smith hates socialists) and ZTT (label of various 80s bands like Art of Noise and Pet Shop Boys).
The video has Smith singing into a megaphone, in his distinctive style, as he explores the world of office parties. The new Fall line-up at this time (over 40 different band members have gravitated around Smith during the band's 30-album, 40-year output) included his first wife, Brix, and her twanging guitar, classically trained Simon Rogers on keyboards and Hanley (bass), Scanlon (guitar) and Burns (drums). I prefer the production of the mid-80s Beggar's Banquet Fall records compared to some earlier releases like Dragnet, and though I enjoy listening to Grotesque and Hex Enduction Hour occasionally, this is the only album that I come back to regularly. As well as the more accessible sound, Smith explores some of his influences on the LP like krautrock (notably Can, on I Am Damo Suzuki) and Captain Beefheart. Repetition is one krautrock ploy that Smith uses to good effect. As opposed to the handful of standout tracks to be found on most Fall records, This Nation's Saving Grace has at least six gems: Barmy, Spoilt Victorian Child, L.A., Gut Of The Quantifier, My New House and Paintwork. Barmy shifts from infectious guitar pop to dirge and back again, while Spoilt Victorian Child almost sounds like The Smiths, but with impenetrable lyrics. L.A. is an interesting departure into electro-goth; seeing Smith in Armani suits and eyeliner around this time (probably the influence of Brix) is a bizarre sight. Gut of the Quantifier steals the Doors' guitar riff from the Changeling wholesale, while the lyrics take a swipe at the Live Aid pop philanthropists ("they take from the medium poor / to give to the needy poor"). There's a strong dose of nihilism throughout. Smith is more effective when he's trying to be funny, like on My New House ("according to the postman / it's like the bleeding Bank of England"). Paintwork is probably my favourite track on the LP, its (accidentally) experimental tape manipulation and surrealist lyrical snippets and noise generating an atmosphere of blissful confusion.
Where to start with The Fall? It's fair to say I'm not a devoted fan, certainly nowhere near the level of John Peel. Every year of Peel's Festive 50, from 1979 when Rowchee Rumble first entered at No.40 until 2003 (the last before Peel died), The Fall always featured in the Top 50. Peel chose Eat Y'Self Fitter as one of his Desert Island Discs and kept all of his Fall LPs separate from the rest of his collection. I understand the appeal, Mark E. Smith is a true outsider and also an unrelenting cynic (this interview is illuminating). Part of his outlaw status stems from the fact that Smith sees himself more as a writer than a musician: "I see writing and singing as two very different things. My attitude is if you can't deliver it like a garage band, f**k it. That's one thing that's never been explored, delivering complex things in a very straightforward rock 'n' roll way." Smith likes to tout his philosophical credentials (The Fall is the name of a novel by French existentialist Albert Camus, detailing the Dantesque descent into hell of a middle-class lawyer), but there's little philosophy in the songs. That said, there's a lot of humour and sharp observation, mixed with bile and unflinching honesty. In that way, though he's not as gifted a writer, Smith does remind me of fellow roué Michel Houellebecq. Both also share a love of the bleak worldview of HP Lovecraft. Musically, The Fall definitely have a DIY punk / garage band ethos, and on 1985 single Couldn't Get Ahead they almost sound like the Ramones. Another single from 1985 that didn't make it on to This Nation's Saving Grace was Cruiser's Creek, which sees Smith at his nihilistic best slagging off his contemporaries, Red Wedge (Smith hates socialists) and ZTT (label of various 80s bands like Art of Noise and Pet Shop Boys).
The video has Smith singing into a megaphone, in his distinctive style, as he explores the world of office parties. The new Fall line-up at this time (over 40 different band members have gravitated around Smith during the band's 30-album, 40-year output) included his first wife, Brix, and her twanging guitar, classically trained Simon Rogers on keyboards and Hanley (bass), Scanlon (guitar) and Burns (drums). I prefer the production of the mid-80s Beggar's Banquet Fall records compared to some earlier releases like Dragnet, and though I enjoy listening to Grotesque and Hex Enduction Hour occasionally, this is the only album that I come back to regularly. As well as the more accessible sound, Smith explores some of his influences on the LP like krautrock (notably Can, on I Am Damo Suzuki) and Captain Beefheart. Repetition is one krautrock ploy that Smith uses to good effect. As opposed to the handful of standout tracks to be found on most Fall records, This Nation's Saving Grace has at least six gems: Barmy, Spoilt Victorian Child, L.A., Gut Of The Quantifier, My New House and Paintwork. Barmy shifts from infectious guitar pop to dirge and back again, while Spoilt Victorian Child almost sounds like The Smiths, but with impenetrable lyrics. L.A. is an interesting departure into electro-goth; seeing Smith in Armani suits and eyeliner around this time (probably the influence of Brix) is a bizarre sight. Gut of the Quantifier steals the Doors' guitar riff from the Changeling wholesale, while the lyrics take a swipe at the Live Aid pop philanthropists ("they take from the medium poor / to give to the needy poor"). There's a strong dose of nihilism throughout. Smith is more effective when he's trying to be funny, like on My New House ("according to the postman / it's like the bleeding Bank of England"). Paintwork is probably my favourite track on the LP, its (accidentally) experimental tape manipulation and surrealist lyrical snippets and noise generating an atmosphere of blissful confusion.
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