The Fall
HMV Forum, London, June 10

Taking the stage with his patented nonchalant demeanor, Mark E. Smith, the sole constant member of The Fall, led the group through a storming set book-ending their 30-year career. Touching on songs from their 1977 debut up to unreleased material slated for their upcoming record scheduled for later this year, Smith’s songs sounded timeless and urgent. While many of Smith’s alterna-contemporaries are mounting reunion tours rehashing oldies to bring home the bacon, The Fall continue to release challenging music. The Fall don’t age gracefully. They age haggardly and raw and seem to get angrier. It was a truly special night from a still vital group.

Three highlights of their 27 studio albums:

Hex Enduction Hour (1982)

After Grotesque’s fly-on-the –wall dissection of the British class system, The Fall made a light-year leap with the primal Hex Enduction Hour. There are hard-punchers like “Jawbone and The Air-Rifle,” but most powerful of all is “Winter,” which begins as an elegiac ode and ends in a storm. At times difficult and incomprehensible, but ultimately rewarding, Hex is the pinnacle of the group’s vast output.

Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall (1984)

When the rollicking opener kicks in, “Lay of The Land”, it is apparent that The Fall has entered a new golden era. With the addition of Smith’s wife, the American guitarist Brix, the group’s songs were coated in a thin pop coating making the lyrical perversion and subversion that much more striking.

Imperial Wax Solvent (2008)

With Mark E. Smith’s third wife, Elena Poulou taking over keyboard duties, this line-up cranked out another milestone. Hard and chugging and littered with electronic squelches, The Fall deliver a late career raw masterpiece that ain’t long-in-the-tooth.

Top photo by Jaime Perlman

KEYWORDS: Music