The Fall, New Facts Emerge- A Review (2017)

The Fall, New Facts Emerge- A Review (2017)

By: Ghost Writer

Rock N Roll Animal

I love The Fall, they are certainly one of the closest post punk bands to the world of krautrock, which I also love,  their music is almost mechanic, messy mechanic, an old noisy battered machine that never stops, that keeps roaring year after year, The Fall´s leader Mark E. Smith is now in his 60s, and his band in its 40s, New Facts Emerge is the band´s 32nd studio recording and it amazes me how it perfectly shows a band hungry and full of ideas, after 32 records it sounds now more like a band and less like a Smith ego trip, guitarist Peter Greenway sounds free and not afraid of putting Smith against the ropes when things get rough on some of the tracks, he is certainly pushing his boss to the limit, that´s his job, Smith loves struggle, he is a fighter and he enjoys a good fight, and that’s precisely a good description of New Facts Emerge, is a clash of so many things and ideas, but at the same time, it’s still The Fall, just as John Peel used to describe them, “always different, always the same”, opener Segue is confusing, kind of like a drunk Captain Beefheart storming a The Residents recording session, but the first song, Fol De Rol is such a powerful statement thanks to Greenway guitars, nasty and hypnotic at the same time, Greenway adds that new dimension that opens a wide room for Smith´s wild discharge of venomous screams and drunken growls, a dirty old man (in Bukowski tradition) doing the best rock rants you have heard this year, perfectly backed by a powerful rhythm section together for almost ten years giving the band´s a wonderful sense of cohesion, an unstoppable 40 years old juggernaut of sound impossible to ignore.

For Brillo De Facto it’s the turn of bassist Dave Spurr to lead the actions and the punishment, his muscular bass playing gives the song its melody, he is perfectly accompanied by drummer Keiron Melling, keeping the band true to their roots, giving the whole concept a new dimension and powerful breaks that give the whole tune a good feel of depth, drama and keeping it really bombastic, all this while Greenway guitars sprayed all over the place adds a nice Pollock like touch to the already chaotic and dirty sonic mix, but is on the shockingly titled Victoria Train Station Massacre where this band really reaches zenith, gets a great grip to its garage-rockabilly roots and creates a brutally interesting mess of a sound, The Falls knowns nothing about music conventions, this is pure free form Avant Garde monstrous garage rock played by seasoned veterans, not afraid of keeping their sound, raw, unexpected and at the same time raucous cacophonic, repeating the brutalist doses on the equally monotone title track, with its infectious guitar riff too contagious to bear, the band finding a perfect groove, and in krautrock tradition, not letting it go.

Part of the new-found experimentation is heard on Couples vs Jobless Mid 30s, an obscure, weird sounding tune, more a freak out than a proper tune, with punkish bass and the sort of stuff German bands like Can, Ash Ra Temple and Faust used to play, immediately followed by an amusing Second House Now and its unashamedly take on rockabilly at first, and then mutated into an insistent post punk rant, and then going deep through their garage roots with the amateurish sounding O! Zstrrk Man, one of those songs The Fall keep manufacturing in order to stay surreal and free form, away from what might be expected from them, staying away from the trap bands like Pavement went while recreating The Fall´s sound, but don’t expect (again) The Fall to throw it all away from this point on, because Smith pop genius emerge on Gibbus Gibson, which might be the most accessible tune you will ever hear from Smith and company, clean guitars and an even amicable performance by Smith, showing new tricks form apparently old dogs, and if you are hear for classic The Fall sound, well, Groundsboy is surely to fulfill your desires, as the band really sounds enjoying the moment, and then annoying a few with some sound experimentation again on the closing Nine Out of Ten, this is The Fall doing what they do best, creating a great big mess, loud and dirty and getting away with it, Smith has a great band and at this pint they look unstoppable.